Release of CXC‐chemokines by human lung microvascular endothelial cells (LMVEC) compared with macrovascular umbilical vein endothelial cells

In the present study, the sensitivity of LMVEC and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the proinflammatory cytokines IL‐1, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and interferon‐gamma (IFN‐γ) was compared. To this end, the production of the CC‐ (MCP‐1), CXC‐ (IL‐8, ENA‐78, Groα, NAP‐2, GCP‐2) and CX3C (fractalkine) chemokines was studied. A low basal production of these chemokines was observed in both cell types. TNF‐α, IL‐1 and LPS up‐regulated all chemokines tested. IFN‐γ however was only able to up‐regulate MCP‐1 production. LMVEC were more sensitive to IL‐1 and LPS compared with HUVEC, since LMVEC produced significantly more MCP‐1, ENA‐78 and Groα (P