Antioxidant attenuates acute lung injury after cardiopulmonary bypass in rats

This study tested the effects of the antioxidant pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate on acute lung injury induced by cardiopulmonary bypass in rats. Adult rats were randomly divided into 3 groups of 7 each. The study group was pretreated with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate before undergoing 60 min of normothermic partial cardiopulmonary bypass, a control group underwent cardiopulmonary bypass only, and a third group underwent a sham operation involving anesthesia and cannulation only. The respiratory index at 60 min after terminating bypass was significantly increased in the study group only. Neutrophil, malondialdehyde, interleukin-8, nuclear factor-kappaB, and protein levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from the cardiopulmonary bypass group were significantly higher than those in the other two groups, with marked inflammatory changes on lung histopathology. It was concluded that cardiopulmonary bypass can directly induce acute lung injury, and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate attenuates this injury by inhibiting nuclear factor-kappaB activity.