Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a common complication of radiotherapy for thoracic tumor. Its incidence rate is as high as 20%. At present, there is no effective treatment in clinical practice. However, to study the mechanism of radiation-induced lung injury, we should first establish an appropriate animal model. In a series of scientific studies on RILI, mice are the animals most often chosen by researchers. However, there are few reports on which strain of mice is more suitable as a model of RILI. In this study, Kunming (KM) and C57BL/6 strains of mice were used as research objects to find the most suitable mice to replicate the RILI model. C57BL/6 mice and KM mice were exposed to irradiation at a dose of 20 Gy. The lung tissue of C57BL/6 mice exposed to radiation showed dilation and hyperemia of capillaries, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and thickening of alveolar septum, while the lung tissue of KM mice exposed to radiation was not as obvious as that of C57BL/6 mice. After irradiation, the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the lung tissue of C57BL/6 mice was significantly increased, while the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α in KM mice was almost unchanged. These studies showed that C57BL/6 mice are more suitable for the model of radiation-induced lung injury because of sensitive inflammatory reaction and the pathological changes of lung tissue.
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