Preventive effect of tranilast on oleic acid-induced lung injury in guinea pigs

Acute respiratory distress syndrome or acute lung injury (ARDS)/(ALI) involve the severe lung injury with pulmonary vascular hyper-permeability and hypoxemia induced by inflammatory reactions. Since ARDS/ALI carries high mortality, the development of new drugs against ARDS/ALI is required. We examined the effect of tranilast, an anti-allergic drug, on vascular hyper-permeability in the lungs and airways, and on hypoxemia, in oleic acid (OA)-induced acute lung injury, an animal model of ARDS/ALI. The increase in pulmonary and airway vascular permeability and the decrease in partial oxygen pressure of arterial blood induced by an intravenous injection of OA were drastically ameliorated by the oral administration of tranilast in a dose-dependent manner. This is the first report to prove that tranilast prevents pulmonary and airway vascular permeability and hypoxemia induced by OA. These results suggest that tranilast may be a candidate drug for the treatment of ARDS/ALI.