Ferulic acid (FA) exhibits anti‐inflammatory, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and antihypertensive effects. This study aimed to determine whether FA could ameliorate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced inflammatory responses and acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. Mice were challenged with LPS intratracheally to induce ALI 1 h after 3 days of FA (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) or dexamethasone (DEX; 5 mg/kg) administration. The lung tissues and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected 12 h after the LPS challenge. Pretreatment with FA or DEX could attenuate lung histopathological change, complement deposition, and lung wet‐to‐dry weight ratio of mice injured by LPS. Meanwhile, the influx of neutrophils and macrophages, as well as the production of proinflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, interleukin 1 beta [IL‐1β], and IL‐6), in BALF of ALI mice was significantly decreased. Moreover, FA or DEX markedly reversed the LPS‐induced elevation of myeloperoxidase activity and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 level in lung tissues of ALI mice. In addition, the Western blot analysis demonstrated that FA or DEX effectively inhibited the LPS‐induced activation of the toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) signaling pathway in lung tissues. The current study suggested that the alleviating effect of FA against LPS‐induced ALI might be partially due to the inhibition of the inflammatory response via inactivation of the TLR4/NF‐κB signaling pathway.

Abstract.The association between antibiotic resistance and SHV-12 extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) in Enterobacter cloacae remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of both chromosome-and plasmid-borne SHV-12 ESBL genes in Enterobacter cloacae. Transmission of the SHV-12 ESBL gene was explored, and the risk factors for antibiotic resistance in E. cloacae were analyzed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results showed that 58 out of the 100 isolates carried the SHV-12 ESBL gene: 34.48% of them occurred in the chromosome, 48.28% were plasmid-borne and 17.24% appeared in both. Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR tests detected 82 chromosomal genotypes. Conjugation assays showed that 70.00% of plasmid-borne SHV-12 ESBL genes were successfully transconjugated into E. coli C600 and that the antibiotic resistance phenotype of E. cloacae was partially (84%) or completely (10%) transferred. A significantly higher SHV-12 ESBL detection rate was found in patients with underlying conditions and/or complications compared with those without (P<0.05). The detection of SHV-12 ESBL-producing E. cloacae from vertical transmission varied significantly across clinical departments and age groups (P<0.05), with the highest rates in the intensive care unit and the group of patients aged ≥60 years. The present results indicate that the location and transmission efficiency of SHV-12 ESBL are closely correlated with the antibiotic resistance of E. cloacae.