Effect of Ligustrazine on NO and iNOS in Paraquat-induced Acute Lung Injury in Rats

Objective The variance of NO and iNOS in Paraquat-induced acute lung injured rats was investigated,and the protection of ligustrazine on rat acute lung injury was approached.Methods 50 Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were randomly divided into five experimental groups:blank group,negative control group,positive control group,ligustrazine low-dose group(LDG),ligustrazine high-dose group(HDG).Macroscopic and histopathological examinations were performed and biological indexes were measured for the lung specimens.The indexes included lung wet weight/dry weight,the rats of neutrophils and protein content in the pulmonary alveolar lavage fluid.In the mean time,the contents of lung tissue homogenate NO and iNOS were measured.Results Compared with negative control group,lung congestion and lung edema of ligustrazine low-dose group were mitigated.Lung wet weight/dry weight,neutrophil infiltration,and protein content were decreased(P0.05 or P0.01),and biological indexes of lung injury and the contents of NO and iNOS were significantly decreased(P0.05 or P0.01).Conclusion NO and iNOS play important roles in lung injury of poisoned rats.Ligustrazine can ameliorate the lung injury and decrease the concentrations of NO and iNOS.