Abstract

In vivo treatment of hydrophobic substances requires the use of organic solvents, which are often toxic. Consequently, polyethylene glycols (PEGs), which are considered as nontoxic, have been widely used for many years in chemistry and biology. We used PEG 200, which was administrated by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection once a week to mice. After 4 months of injections, at the dose of 1.67 mL/kg, a surprising increase in expression of GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) and IBA1 (ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1), glial markers of astrocytes and microglia respectively, was observed in the mice‘s hippocampus. These results were associated with a dramatic increase in pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression, all together suggesting an inflammatory process. It is important to communicate these results to the scientific community to provide awareness of this potential effect when PEG 200 is used under similar conditions as a vehicle in mice.

摘要

体内疏水物质的处理需要使用通常有毒的有机溶剂。因此，被认为无毒的聚乙二醇 (PEG) 在化学和生物学中已广泛使用多年。我们使用 PEG 200，通过每周一次的腹膜内 (ip) 注射对小鼠进行给药。注射 4 个月后，以 1.67 mL/kg 的剂量，在老鼠的海马体。这些结果与促炎细胞因子白细胞介素 1β (IL-1β) 表达的显着增加有关，所有这些都表明炎症过程。