Effects of Ligustrazine on Inflammatory Lung Injury in Septic Mice

Objective:To investigate the potential anti-inflammatory effects of Ligustrazine during the progression of sepsis and the consequential inflammatory lung injury.Methods:C57BL/6 mice were pre-treated with Ligustrazine or vehicle,and then sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture(CLP).After 18 h the total cell counts and protein concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids(BALF) were determined.Myeloperoxidase(MPO) activity and malondialdehyde(MDA) content in lung tissue as well as interleukin-6(IL-6) level in plasma were also measured.In addition,the ratio of wet weight to dry weight of lung tissue was calculated and the Formalin-fixed lung specimens were stained with HE routinely for morphologic evaluation.Results:Treatment with Ligustrazine alleviated sepsis-induced morphological damage in lung tissue.This was accompanied by reduced ratio of wet weight to dry weight of lung tissue,decreased MDA content and MPO activity in lung homogenates,as well as less cell and protein presented in BALF.Additionally,the up-regulation of systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 was also suppressed by Ligustrazine.Conclusion:Ligustrazine effectively attenuates intrapulmonary and systemic inflammatory response,thus significantly alleviated lung injury induced by sepsis.