Protective effect of Ulinastatin on lung pathological changes in paraquat intoxication rats.

Objective To evaluate the protective effect of Ulinastatin on pathological changes of lung induced by paraquat (PQ) intoxication in rats. Method Sixty female SD rats were randomly and equally divided into three groups ( n = 20 in each group). On the experimental day, the rats of group A (control group) received 1 mL of saline intragastrically; the rats of group B (PQ, group) received 1 mL of PQ intragastrically (40 mg/kg diluted in saline) and then treated with saline injected intraperitoneally once a day, and the rats of group Group C (Ulinastatin treatment group) received 1 mL of PQ intragastrically (40 mg/kg,diluted in saline) and then treated with 1 mL of Ulinastatin ( 120 000 IU/kg) intraperitoneally twice a day. The rats ( n = 5 in each subgroup) were sacrificed on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day for observing the histopathological changes of the lung stained with hematoxylin-eosin stain (HE) and Masson's trichrome stain. Data were semi-quantitatively analyzed by SPSS10.0 software. Hierarchical data were analyzed by rank and inspection. The data that have significance analyzed by comparison test (Bonferroni methods). Results Paraquat intoxication resulted in significant alveolitis and lung fibrosis. Ulinastatin treatment alleviated lung edema, hemorrhage, inflammatory cell infiltration, and fiber aggregation. Conclusions These data demonstrated the Ulinastatin exerted protective effects against PQ-induced lung injury. Ulinastatin could to be used in clinical management for PQ intoxication. Key words: Pulmonary fibrosis;  Ulinastatin;  Immunohistochemistry;  Paraquat;  Poisoning;  Pathology;  Rat; Pulmonary fibrosis