Can albumin administration relieve lung injury in trauma/hemorrhagic shock?

To study the effect of albumin administration on lung injury in trauma/hemorrhagic shock (T/HS).

Sixty experimental animals were randomly divided into three groups: rats undergoing laparotomy without shock (T/SS); rats with T/HS and resuscitation with blood plus twice the volume of shed blood as Ringer's lactate (RL), and rats with T/HS and resuscitation with blood plus additional 3 mL of 50 g/L human albumin. Expression of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) CD11b/CD18, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) of jugular vein blood and the severity of lung injuries [determined mainly by measuring activity of lung tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) and lung injury score (LIS)] were measured after a 3-h recovery period.

All three groups showed a significant difference in the expressions of CD11b/CD18, ICAM-1, and severity of lung injury. The expressions of CD11b/CD18 in T/SS group, T/HS + RL group, T/HS + albumin group were 17.76% +/- 2.11%, 31.25% +/- 3.48%, 20.36% +/- 3.21%, respectively (F = 6.25, P < 0.05). The expressions of ICAM-1 (U/mL) in T/SS group, T/HS + RL group, T/HS + albumin group were 258.76 +/- 98.23, 356.23 +/- 65.6, 301.01 +/- 63.21, respectively (F = 5.86, P < 0.05). The expressions of MPO (U/g) in T/SS group, T/HS + RL group, T/HS + albumin group were 2.53 +/- 0.11, 4.63 +/- 1.31, 4.26 +/- 1.12, respectively (F = 6.26, P < 0.05). Moreover, LIS in T/HS + RL group, T/HS + albumin group was 2.62 +/- 0.23, 1.25 +/- 0.24, respectively. The expressions of CD11b/CD18, ICAM-1 and MPO in T/HS + RL group were significantly increased compared to T/SS group (P = 0.025, P = 0.036, P = 0.028, respectively). However, administration of 3 mL of 50 g/L albumin significantly down-regulated the expressions of CD11b/CD18, ICAM-1 and lung injury index (MPO and LIS) when compared with the T/HS + RL rats (P = 0.035, P = 0.046, P = 0.038, P = 0.012, respectively).

The infusion of albumin during resuscitation period can protect lung from injury and decrease the expressions of CD11b/CD18, ICAM-1 in T/HS rats.