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. 2025 May;67(5):1908-1923.
doi: 10.1007/s12033-024-01168-9. Epub 2024 Jun 3.

Sulfur Dioxide Alleviates Organ Damage and Inflammatory Response in Cecal Ligation and Puncture-Induced Sepsis Rat

Bin Li  1   2 , Keping Jiao  3 , Binsheng Wang  1 , Hongzhong Gou  4 , Chen Chai  5 , Yan Lu  6 , Jian Liu  7   8   9
Affiliations

Sulfur Dioxide Alleviates Organ Damage and Inflammatory Response in Cecal Ligation and Puncture-Induced Sepsis Rat

Bin Li et al. Mol Biotechnol. 2025 May.

Abstract

The study aimed to elucidate the mechanisms by which sulfur dioxide (SO2) alleviates organ damage during sepsis using RNA-Seq technology. A cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) sepsis model was established in rats, and the effects of SO2 treatment on organ damage were assessed through histopathological examinations. RNA-Seq was performed to analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and subsequent functional annotations and enrichment analyses were conducted. The CLP model successfully induced sepsis symptoms in rats. Histopathological evaluation revealed that SO2 treatment considerably reduced tissue damage across the heart, kidney, liver, and lungs. RNA-Seq identified 950 DEGs between treated and untreated groups, with significant enrichment in genes associated with ribosomal and translational activities, amino acid metabolism, and PI3K-Akt signaling. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showcased enrichments in pathways related to transcriptional regulation, cellular migration, proliferation, and calcium-ion binding. In conclusion, SO2 effectively mitigates multi-organ damage induced by CLP sepsis, potentially through modulating gene expression patterns related to critical biological processes and signaling pathways. These findings highlight the therapeutic promise of SO2 in managing sepsis-induced organ damage.

Keywords: Cecal ligation and puncture; Mechanism; RNA-Seq; Sepsis; Sulfur dioxide.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Ethical Approval: This work was approved by the Lanzhou University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Approval number: LDYYLL2021-49). Research Involving Human and Animal Participants: This work was approved by the Lanzhou University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Approval number: LDYYLL2021-49). Informed Consent: Not applicable.

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