Chronic Normobaric Hypoxia Induces Pulmonary Hypertension in Rats: Role of NF-κB

Abstract Junming Fan, Xiaofang Fan, Yang Li, Lu Ding, Qingqing Zheng, Jinbin Guo, Dongmei Xia, Feng Xue, Yongyu Wang, Shufang Liu, and Yongsheng Gong. Chronic normobaric hypoxia induces pulmonary hypertension in rats: role of NF-κB. High Alt Med Biol 17:43–49, 2016.—To investigate whether nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation is involved in chronic normobaric hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH), rats were treated with saline or an NF-κB inhibitor, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, 150 mg/kg, sc, twice daily), and exposed to normoxia or chronic normobaric hypoxia with a fraction of inspired oxygen of ∼0.1 for 14 days. Lung tissue levels of NF-κB activity, and interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNAs, were determined, and mean pulmonary arterial pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, and right heart function were evaluated. Compared to the normoxia exposure group, rats exposed to chronic normobaric hypoxia showed an increased NF-κB activity, measured by increased nuclear transloc...