The Protective Effect of N-acetylcysteine on Acute Lung Injury in Rats Induced by Oleic Acid

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of N-acetylcysteine(NAC) on lung injury in rats induced by oleic acid(OA).Methods: Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into acute lung injury(ALI) group(n=6),N-acetylcysteine(NAC) group(n=6) and control group(n=6),The lung tissues were collected in 3h after OA or saline administration.Lung weight/dry ratio(W/D),the concentrations of lung homogenate myeloperoxidase(MPO),malondiadehyde(MDA),and superoxide dismutase(SOD) were measured.Meanwhile,The pathological changes of lung were examined with light microscope.Results: In ALI group,levels of lung homogenates MPO,MDA were significantly higher and the level of SOD were significantly lower than those in control group and NAC group(All P0.01).The levels of MPO in rats of ALI group have a significantly positive correlation with lung pathological injury scores(r=0.793,p0.01).Histopathologic findings showed less lung injury in NAC group than in ALI group.Conclusions: NAC might have effect of alleviating the lung injury induced by oleic acid,of which the mechanism might be associated with free oxygen radical elimination.