Effects of different paraquat toxic doses on acute lung injury in rabbits

Objective To study the effect of different paraquat(PQ) toxic doses on acute lung injury(ALI) and pulmonary fibrosis(PF) in rabbits. Methods Thirty-six adult New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups according to different doses of paraquat given via grastric canal:group A(8 mg/kg,n=12) ,group B(16 mg/kg,n=12) and group C(32 mg/kg,n=12) . The animals were sacrificed after 7 d poisoning. The upper lobe of lung was removed for HE and Masson staining. The ALI score and PF condition were analyzed and compared. Results The ALI score in Group A [(8.33±1.03) points] were higher than group B [(9.83±1.17) points,P=0.047] and group C [(11.50±1.38) points,P0.01]. The difference between group B and C also showed statically significant(P=0.03) . The PF degree in group A(31.09±2.05) % was lower than group B [(34.37±1.62) %,P=0.002] and group C [(36.54±0.44) %,P0.01]. There is also markedly difference between group B and C(P=0.026) . Pearson correlation analysis showed that different doses of PQ were significantly related with ALI and PF. Conclusions With the toxic dose increasing,the rabbit ALT and the pathological changes of PF become more apparent. PQ doses were closely correlated with ALI and PF.