Retraction for Zhou et al., Gastrin-releasing peptide blockade as a broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory therapy for asthma

MEDICAL SCIENCES Retraction for “Gastrin-releasing peptide blockade as a broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory therapy for asthma,” by Shutang Zhou, Erin N. Potts, Frank Cuttitta, W. Michael Foster, and Mary E. Sunday, which appeared in issue 5, February 1, 2011, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (108:2100–2105; first published January 20, 2011; 10.1073/pnas.1014792108).

The undersigned authors wish to note: “We have become aware that the primary data provided by the pulmonary function laboratory for calculating the in vivo pulmonary mechanics results are inconsistent with the machine-generated raw data, and that most primary data from Multiplex assays of cytokines collected in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cannot be located. In particular, the ovalbumin data cannot be substantiated in independent experiments, as presented in Fig. 2, part of Fig. 4, and Table 1, as well as Figs. S3, S5, and S6, and Tables S1 and S2. Most of the ozone data are reproducible but require O₃ exposure at 2 ppm for a robust positive control response. The paper’s basic conclusion still holds true that gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) blockade in the ozone model abrogates airway hyperreactivity responses in BALB/c mice and reduces neutrophilic inflammation and elevated cytokine production triggered by ozone in a broad-spectrum fashion, but only 8 cytokines were significantly modulated up by O₃ and also down by O₃+GRP blockade in the original raw data (IL-1β, IL-3, IL-5, IL -13, IL-17, GM-CSF, RANTES, and VEGF). To emphasize the significance of the ozone data, other laboratories have confirmed and extended our observations related to GRP-induced neutrophil accumulation (1, 2). Accordingly, we would like to retract this paper from the scientific literature and apologize to our colleagues and the scientific community for any inconvenience this might have caused.”

Shutang Zhou

Erin N. Potts

Frank Cuttitta

W. Michael Foster

Mary E. Sunday

1. Czepielewski RS, et al. (2012) Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) mediates chemotaxis in neutrophils. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(2):547–552.

2. Petronilho F, Danielski LG, Roesler R, Schwartsmann G, Dal-Pizzol F (2013) Gastrin-releasing peptide as a molecular target for inflammatory diseases: an update. Inflamm Allergy Drug Targets 12(3):172–177.