Diminished injury in hypotransferrinemic mice after exposure to a metal-rich particle. Pulmonary expression of human haptoglobin gene. Resistance of hypotransferrinemic mice to hyperoxia-induced lung injury. Site specificity of surfactant protein expression in airways of baboons during gestation. Regulation of transferrin gene expression during lung development and injury.
Oxidative stress plays a central role in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic pulmonary diseases.
Efforts to address this problem have focused on augmenting cellular antioxidant defenses. Catalytic active iron likely contributes heavily to subsequent clinical complications in the lung disorders. Accumulation of catalytic reactive iron has been demonstrated in a number of diseased lungs, for examples, adult respiratory distress and cystic fibrosis. Sequestration of iron in a catalytically less reactive form is fundamentally important in lung defense. However, effective iron-chelating drugs, which do not inflict damage on healthy tissues, have not been developed.