Ebselen reduces pulmonary immune cell infiltration but has
no effect on pro-inflammatory and oxidative stress gene expression
Given that ebselen was able to protect against CS-induced vascular
dysfunction, we next sought to determine the effect of ebselen on
CS-induced lung inflammation. Consistent with Figure 2, CS caused a
significant increase in BALF total cells, macrophages, neutrophils and
lymphocytes (Figure 5A-D). Interestingly, ebselen significantly reduced
CS-induced increases in BALF total cell and neutrophil counts but not
macrophage and lymphocyte numbers (Figure 5A-D). Moreover, while CS
exposure increased TNF-α and NOX-2 mRNA expression in the lungs, no
detectable attenuations were found with ebselen administration (Figure
5E & F). Ebselen administration also appears to be ineffective in
preserving lung Gpx-1 mRNA expression against CS exposure (Figure 5G)
but rather mimics its antioxidant activity.