Volume 2021, Issue 1 6643398
Research Article
Open Access

Ghrelin Protects Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury Rats against Pulmonary Vascular Dysfunction by Inhibiting Inflammation

Guang Li

Guang Li

Department of Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China whu.edu.cn

Search for more papers by this author
Chen-Liang Zhou

Chen-Liang Zhou

Department of Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China whu.edu.cn

Search for more papers by this author
Wen-Fang Xia

Wen-Fang Xia

Department of Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China whu.edu.cn

Search for more papers by this author
Di Zhang

Di Zhang

Department of Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China whu.edu.cn

Search for more papers by this author
Hui-Qing Lin

Corresponding Author

Hui-Qing Lin

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Renmin Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China whu.edu.cn

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 12 April 2021
Citations: 1
Academic Editor: Theodoros I. Vassilakopoulos

Abstract

Objective. To determine the effect and mechanism of the anti-inflammatory agent ghrelin on pulmonary vascular dysfunction (PVD) in lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced acute lung injury (ALI) rat models. Methods. Thirty-two adult male Sprague Dawley rats (n = 16/group) were randomly divided into ghrelin and saline groups, wherein ghrelin (10 nmol/kg) or saline was subcutaneously administered. After 30 min, eight rats from each group were randomly selected, and LPS (5 mg/kg) or saline was administered by intratracheal instillation to induce ALI. Four hours after establishing the ALI rat model, the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), mean right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), levels of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), BALF cell count, wet-to-dry (W/D) lung weight ratios, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in lung tissue for all four groups (ghrelin, ghrelin + ALI, saline, and saline + ALI) were measured. Immunohistochemical staining to detect alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression was performed to assess the intrapulmonary arterial wall thickness and the proliferation of smooth muscle cells, respectively. Results. The ghrelin-pretreated ALI rats showed lower mPAP, RVSP, PCNA expression, MPO activity, W/D lung weight ratio, TNF-α and IL-6 levels, and BALF cell count than the saline-pretreated ALI rats, but ghrelin had no effect on the intrapulmonary arterial wall thickness of ALI rats. Conclusion. Our results confirmed the association between inflammation and PVD in ALI and suggested that the suppression of inflammation by ghrelin pretreatment could protect LPS-induced ALI rats against PVD.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.