RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Ligustrazine attenuates acute lung injury induced by blunt chest trauma.
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 139
OP 145
VO 33
IS 2
A1 Qing-Tao Meng
A1 Zhong-Yuan Xia
A1 Tao Luo
A1 Chen Cao
A1 Bo Zhao
A1 Yang Wu
A1 Xiaojin Wu
A1 Xiangdong Chen
YR 2012
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/33/2/139.abstract
AB OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of ligustrazine on acute lung injury induced by blunt chest trauma.METHODS: This study was performed in the Animal Center of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China between September 2009 and September 2010. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into 4 groups: sham control group (group C, n=60), ligustrazine treatment group (group C+L, n=60), blunt chest trauma model group (group T, n=60), and the trauma plus ligustrazine treatment group (group T+L, n=60). The lung contusion was induced as previously described. Animals of the T+L group were intraperitoneally injected with ligustrazine. Acute lung injury was evaluated by histopathology of the lung, and apoptosis was determined by terminal dUTP nick-labeling. Pulmonary edema was estimated using Evans blue dye extravasation and wet/dry ratios of lung tissue. The expression of caspase-3, Bcl-2, and Bax in the lung, as well as blood plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were also measured.RESULTS: The ligustrazine treatment significantly attenuated lung injury induced by blunt chest trauma, as shown by decreased apoptosis index, and pulmonary edema (p=0.04). The blood plasma TNF-alpha level after blunt chest trauma significantly deceased after the administration of ligustrazine (p=0.03). In addition, the ligustrazine treatment significantly alleviated the expression of caspase-3 (p=0.03), and increased the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax (p<0.03).CONCLUSIONS: Ligustrazine effectively protects lung injury induced by blunt chest trauma, and the protective effects seem to be mediated by attenuation of cell apoptosis via an increased ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and decreased caspase-3 activity.