PROMISE FOR THIOREDOXIN IN ALI

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are still associated with a high rate of mortality. As Baudouin points out in his editorial, ALI is associated with a complex inflammatory process and trials of anti-inflammatory agents in ARDS have failed. In this month’s Thorax, Callister and colleagues describe a new approach to ALI with the study of thioredoxin, a small ubiquitous protein that has been shown to impact on nearly all aspects of cell function. Thioredoxin levels were higher in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and plasma from patients with ALI than healthy controls. Lung tissue from patients with ALI also had greater staining for thioredoxin in alveolar macrophages and type II epithelial cells than control lung tissue (see figure). BAL fluid levels of thioredoxin were much higher in patients with ALI of pulmonary origin. These results are …