Objective　　　To study the effect of hydrogen sulfide (H

2

S) on caerulein-induced inflammatory cytokin

es in rat pancreatic acinar cells through NF-κB pathway.　　　 Methods　　　Pancreatic acinar cells were isolated from 25 SD rats

and caerulein (10

-7

mol/L) was used to induce acute pancreatitis (AP) in vitro. The pancreatic acinar cells were pre-incubated with NaHS (5

10

20 and 40 μmol/L) for 30 min

NaHS (5 μmol/L) for different time (10

30 and 60 min)

cystathionine-γ-lyase (CSE) inhibitor of PAG (3 μmol/L) for 60 min

and NF-κB inhibitor of BAY 11-7082 for 30 min plus NaHS (5 μmol/L) for another 60 min

respectively

and then were treated with caerulein for 60 min. The cells treated with caerulein alone were served as control. The mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines and CSE were measured by real-time PCR

and the levels of IκBα and NF-κBp65 were measured by Western blotting.　　　 Results　　　As compared with the caerulein group

the levels of TNF-α (14.70±1.10) and IL-1β (14.42±0.83) were significantly decreased and IL-10(12.20±0.55) were significantly increased in cells pretreated with 5 μmol/L of NaHS for 60 min (

P

0.05)

while the levels of TNF-α (37.38±0.89) and IL-1β (24.45±0.76) were significantly increased and the level of CSE (0.14±0.03) and IL-10(0.14±0.03) were significantly decreased in cells pretreated with PAG for 60 min (

P

0.05). In the cells pretreated with BAY 11-7082 for 30 min

the levels of TNF-α (9.17±0.96)

IL-1β (2.90±0.17) and nuclear NF-κBp65 (0.70±0.04) were significantly decreased

but the level of IL-10(40.00±1.00) and IκBα (0.90±0.01) were increased as compared with the caerulein group (P0.05).　　　 Conclusion　　　A low dose of NaHS can inhibit the caerulein-induced expression of inflammatory cytokines and increase anti-inflammatory cytokines through suppressing the activation of NF-κB pathway

suggesting the low dose of H

2

S plays an anti-inflammatory role in AP.