P38 activation is more important than ERK activation in lung injury induced by prolonged hyperbaric oxygen

Prolonged exposure to hyperbaric oxygen can cause pulmonary and nerve system toxicity. Although hyperbaric oxygen treatment has been used for a broad spectrum of ailments, the mechanisms of prolonged hyperbaric oxygen-induced lung injury are not fully understood. The purpose of the present work was to investigate the roles of ERK, p38, and caspase-3 in rat lung tissue exposed to hyperbaric oxygen at 2.3 atmospheres absolute (atm abs) for two, six and 10 hours. The results showed that the ERK and p38 were phosphorylated at two hours and reached a peak at six hours into exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. While the phosphorylation level of ERK decreased, p38 remained at a high level of activation at 10 hours. The activation of ERK and p38 was down-regulated when rats were exposed to normoxic hyperbaric nitrogen for 10 hours. However, caspase-3 was activated at six hours and 10 hours into exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. These results demonstrated different changes of activation of ERK and p38 during lung injury induced by prolonged exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. The time course changes of activated caspase-3 were similar to the process of p38 activation upon exposure to hyperbaric oxygen. In this way, activation of p38, not ERK, seems to be a mechanism associated with prolonged hyperbaric oxygen-induced lung injury.