Protective effect of shenfu injection on lung injury induced by pulmonary ischemia reperfusion in rats

Objective To investigate the protective effect of shenfu injection (SF) on lung injury induced by lung ischemia reperfusion in rats. Methods Unilateral lung in vivo ischemia reperfusion model in rats was established by clamping the left pulmonary hilum for 45 minutes and then releasing of 3 and 6 hours, respectively. Forty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into three groups: sham operation group(Sh group), ischemia reperfusion group (IR group) and shenfu injection group (SF group). Each group was redivided into two subgroups of 3 hours and 6 hours. Shenfu injection (10 mL/kg) was intraperitoneally injected 30 minutes before ischemia in SF group. The apoptosis rate in lung tissue was detected by the way of Annexin-V-PI in flow cytometer. The expression of caspase-3 was measured by immunohistochemical stain, and the mean optical density(OD) values of positive fields were examined quantitively by image analysis system. The concentration of malondialdehyde(MDA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD) were obtained. The morphological and ultrastructure changes of lung tissue were also observed. Results Compared with IR group, the apoptosis rate, the expression of caspase-3 and the concentration of MDA of lung tissue were significantly decreased in SF group but higher than that in Sh group (P 0.01), and the activity of SOD was obviously increased in SF group but lower than that in Sh group (P 0.01). The pathological and ultrastructure changes were better in SF group than in IR group, too. Conclusion SF may effectively inhibit the apoptosis rate of lung tissue during lung ischemia reperfusion injury, and extenuate the lung injury degree by the possible mechanism of decreasing the concentration of MDA, increasing the activity of SOD and reducing the expression of caspase-3 in early period of lung ischemia reperfusion injury.