Expression of surfactant-associated protein A in lung of chronic alcohol ingestion rats after aucte lung injury

Objective To investigate the influence of chronic alcohol ingestion on the severity of acute lung injury induced by oleic acid and lipopolysaccharide in rats, and the expression of surfactant-associated protein A (SP-A) in the lung. Methods 32 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups, eight rats in each group.The rats in alcohol group received 20% Chinese alcohol as their drinking water for six weeks.Then the rats of lung injury groups received intravenous injection of 0.15 ml/kg oleic acid at first and celiac injection of 4 mg/kg lipopolysaccharide two hours later.The expression of SP-A in the lung was measured by Western blot. Results Compared with the saline group, the protein content in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid increased in alcohol-injury group and water-injury group, the change was more deteriorated in alcohol-injury group.And the expression of SP-A protein in the lung decreased after having been injured, especially in alcohol-injury group. Conclusions Chronic alcohol ingestion has no significant effect on lung structure and the expression of SP-A protein in lung tissue of rats in our study.But the severity of the lung injury and the decrease of SP-A expression in lung are deteriorated when acute lung injury happens. Key words: Acute lung injury; Chronic alcohol ingestion; Surfactant-associated protein A