Lung inflammation induced by exposure to Bisphenol-A is associated with mTOR-mediated autophagy in adolescent mice

Epidemiologic studies show that there is a link between Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure and lung inflammation. Despite this, the molecular mechanisms are not entirely known. This study sought to determine whether exposure to BPA affected the development of ovalbumin (OVA) induced lung inflammation in adolescent female mice and whether the mechanism was related to mTOR-mediated autophagy pathway. Female 4-week-old C57BL/6 mice after one week of domestication were randomly divided into five groups (8/group): control group, OVA group, 0.1 μg mL^-1 BPA + OVA group, 0.2 μg mL^-1 BPA + OVA group and 0.4 μg mL^-1 BPA + OVA group. BPA exacerbated airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), induced the pathological changes in the lung, which also enhanced inflammatory cells and cytokine levels. In addition, BPA exposure affected expression of autophagy associated proteins and genes. This research results indicated that BPA aggravated OVA-induced lung inflammation and induced abnormal immune function in mice, and its mechanism was related to the activation of autophagy pathway by down-regulation expression of mTOR. These findings suggest that therapeutic strategies to target autophagy may offer a new approach for severe asthma therapy.