Objective To investigate the mRNA and protein expression of human β-defensin-2 (hBD-2) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)，IL-1β and TNF-α in human airway primary epitheliums.Methods The bronchial primary epitheliums from human were stimulated with LPS，IL-1β and TNF-α respectively and then were harvested for hBD-2 expression detection.The mRNA expression of hBD-2 was detected by RT-PCR，and the protein expression by immunocytochemistry and western blot.Results There was a small expression of hBD-2 mRNA in human airway primary epitheliums before stimulation.The hBD-2 mRNA expression was significantly increased after 3 hours of LPS，IL-1β and TNF-α stimulation respectively and the expression increasement was in a dose dependent manner.The hBD-2 protein could be detected in cytoplasm after 4 hours of LPS (0.1 μg/mL)，IL-1β (1 ng/mL) and TNF-α (10 ng/mL) stimulation.Conclusions LPS and proinflammatory cytokines can induce the mRNA and protein expression of hBD-2 in a short time.The expression of hBD-2 may play an initial defense role against bacterial invasion.
