Effect of Xuebijing injection(血必净注射液) combined with dexamethasone in prevention and treatment of chronic pulmonary injury Induced by paraquat in rats

Objective To explore the possible mechanism and protective effect of Xuebijing injection (血必净注射液)and dexamethasone on rats with paraquat-induced chronic pulmonary injury.Methods Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups:normal group(n=5),model group(n=5), treatment groups(n=20).In the normal group,normal saline was used,while in the other groups,20% paraquat 80 mg/kg was injected peritoneally for poisoning.After 2 hours of intoxication,low dose Xuebijing injection(1.25 g/kg),high dose Xuebijing injection(2.50 g/kg),dexamethasone(25 mg/kg),high dose Xuebijing injection combined with dexamethasone(combined group)respectively were administered into the four different treatment groups,equal amount of normal saline was given to the normal and model groups,and the treatment continued for 4 days.At 28 days after paraquat injection,5 rats in each group were killed respectively,serum transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1)and hydroxyproline(HYP)level in the lung homogenate were measured,and pulmonary coefficient and histological changes were observed.Results In the treatment groups,the levels of serum TGF-β1 and lung tissue HYP,pulmonary coefficient were leas than those of model group,and among the treatment groups,combined group had the best results(all P0.05). There was no significant difference between the high dose Xuebijing group and dexamethasone group.In the low dose Xuebijing group,only TGF-β1 was better than that of model group,and the difference was significant(P0.05).When pulmonary coefficients were compared,the combined group was the best among the treatment groups,and no other statistical differences were found among the other treatment groups.The lung tissue pathological investigation showed that the pulmonary fibrosis and consolidation in the treatment groups were milder than those in the model group,and among them the combined group was the mildest. Conclusion Xuebijing injection combined with dexamethasone in treatment of paraquat intoxication can protect pulmonary structure and ameliorate pulmonary fibrosis and consolidation by inhibiting TGF-β1 level, reducing fibroblast migration,activation and suppressing production of collagenous protein.