Abstract:Objective: To investigate the relationship between the expressions of long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) and the inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in intestinal macrophages. Methods: Rat intestinal macrophages were isolated and cultured. The differentially expressed lncRNAs between LPS treated (experimental group) and untreated rat intestinal macrophages (control group) were determined by lncRNA expression microarray, and then the data from microarray were analyzed by hierarchical clustering method. The lncRNA-mRNA co-expression network was constructed, and then the biological function prediction was performed by GO analysis and pathway analysis. Finally, some differentially expressed lncRNAs detected by microarray were verified by RT-qPCR. Results: In experimental group compared with control group, a total of 357 differentially expressed lncRNAs (fold change >1.5) was identified, in which, 245 lncRNAs were up-regulated and 112 lncRNAs were down-regulated. GO analysis and pathway analysis indicated that these differentially expressed lncRNAs were involved in many biological processes that included in the inflammatory response, immune responses and apoptosis, and among them, the lncRNA NONMMUT024673 and NONMMUT047081 were probably most important in the network. The expressions of NONMMUT024673 and NONMMUT047081 examined by RT-qPCR were consistent with those obtained by microarray. Conclusion: LPS can elicit lncRNA differential expression in rat intestinal macrophages, and these differentially expressed lncRNAs may participate in the regulation of the inflammatory response intestinal macrophages induced by LPS.