[Rebamipide inhibited expression of TLR4 and TNF-alpha release in pulmonary epithelial cell line A549 induced by lipopolysaccharide].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of rebamipide on the expression of Toll-like recepter 4 (TLR4) and TNF-alpha release in pulmonary epithelial cell line A549.

METHODS: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used to induce A549 in vitro, which was divided into 4 groups: a control group, a model group(LPS), and 2 intervention groups (10 mg/L rebamipide plus LPS; 30 mg/L rebamipide plus LPS). TNF-alpha release was detected with ELISA and expression of TLR4 was detected with RT-PCR and Western blot.

RESULTS: A549 cells were stimulated with LPS and TNF-alpha release was increased compared with the control group (P<0.01), peaking at 6 h. Expression of TLR4 was also increased compared with the control group (P<0.01), but it was inhibited by rebamipide compared with the model group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the 2 intervention groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION: The antiinflammatory mechanism of rebamipide may be reducing cytokine release by inhibiting TLR4 expression. Rebamipide may be used as a supplementary anti-infection drug.