Influence of ulinastatin on rats with acute necrotizing pancreatitis associated lung injury

Objective To investigate the effects of Ulinastatin (UTI) on the expression of NF-κB and ET-1 in rats with acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP)-associated lung injury and morphology of lung tissue.Methods 60 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups with 20 rats in each group,including sham operation (SO) group,ANP group and UTI group.ANP was induced by injection of 5% sodium taurocholate (1 ml/kg) into pancreatic duct;normal saline was injected for SO group with same amount.UTI was injected for UTI group with the amount of 10 000 U/L via tail vein after ANP induction.The rats were sacrificed 24 h later.The contents of serum amylase,TNF-α and wet/dry weight ratio of the lung were measured.The expression of NF-κB and ET-I protein were detected by immunohistochemical method.The level of apoptosis was detected by TUNEL Results The contents of serum amylase,TNF-α,and wet/dry weight ratio of the lungin in UTI group at 24 hours were (5 648±378)IU/L,( 89.19±3.54) ng/L and 4.55 ±0.07,respectively;which were significantly lower than the corresponding (6 799±437 )IU/L,(183.30±8.18) ng/L and 4.89±0.20 in ANP group (P＜0.05 ).There was no NF-κB and ET-1 expression,and no apoptosis was present in SO group.The positive rates of NF-κB and ET-1 in UTI group were (19±3 ) % and(8±1) %,respectively,the corresponding values in ANP group were (25±2) % and (13±1 ) %,respectively (P ＜ 0.05 ).The level of apoptotie index in UTI group was 13.75±1.25,which was higher than that (6.90±0,85) in ANP group ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions The high expression of NF-κB and ET-1 in lung tissue may cause lung injury.UTI could ameliorate the microcirculation and lung injury caused by inflammation. Key words: Panereatitis,acute necrotizing; Acute lung injury; Ulinastatia