Interleukin-1-mediated acute lung injury and tolerance to oxidative injury

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a highly potent molecule that has a myriad of effects in biologic systems. This brief review describes some of our findings on the effects of IL-1 in biologic systems. On the one hand, IL-1 treatment caused a neutrophil-dependent acute edematous lung injury that resembled changes in the lungs of patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). On the other hand, IL-1 pretreatment conferred a tolerance to lung oxidative lung injury and ischemia-reperfusion insults--again conditions manifest in sick patients. The potential mechanisms responsible for these seemingly paradoxical influences of IL-1 are described and related to possible strategies for the treatment of patients with ARDS, ischemia-reperfusion disorders, and other oxidant-mediated conditions.