TY - JOUR AB - Radiation‑induced lung injury (RILI) is a common and major obstacle in thoracic cancer radiotherapy, resulting in considerable morbidity and limiting the dose of radiation. However, an effective treatment option remains to be established. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of azithromycin (AZM) in acute RILI with a mouse model. In the present study, C57BL/6 mice were given a single thoracic irradiation of 16 Gy and administered orally with AZM. The lung histopathological findings, the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA; an indicator of oxidative damage) and the concentration of pro‑inflammatory and pro‑fibrotic cytokines in plasma were assessed on 28 day following irradiation. In addition, the total cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), the pro‑inflammatory and pro‑fibrotic cytokine gene expression in lung tissue were evaluated on day 7, 14 and 28 following irradiation. Administration with AZM markedly alleviated acute RILI as indicated by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson staining. The levels of MDA and total cell counts in BALF significantly reduced in AZM treated mice. AZM also down‑regulated the concentration and mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)‑1β, IL‑6, tumor necrosis factor‑α and transforming growth factor‑β1. In addition, AZM attenuated the irradiation‑induced increases in the mRNA expression of fibrotic markers (α‑smooth muscle actin and α‑1 type I collagen). AZM treatment mitigated the radiation‑induced acute lung injury possibly by its anti‑inflammatory and anti‑fibrotic effects. AD - Department of Thoracic Oncology, Cancer Center and State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, P.R. China AU - Tang,Fei AU - Li,Rui AU - Xue,Jianxin AU - Lan,Jie AU - Xu,He AU - Liu,Yongmei AU - Zhou,Lin AU - Lu,You DA - 2017/11/01 DO - 10.3892/ol.2017.6813 EP - 5220 IS - 5 JO - Oncol Lett KW - azithromycin radiation‑induced lung injury inflammation fibrosis cytokine PY - 2017 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 5211 ST - Azithromycin attenuates acute radiation‑induced lung injury in mice T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Azithromycin attenuates acute radiation‑induced lung injury in mice UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6813 VL - 14 ER -