The roles of NF-kB in the development of lung injury after one-lung ventilation

To explore the roles of NF-kB in the development of lung injury after one-lung ventilation.

Eighteen Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups including control group, one-lung ventilation (OL) group and NF-kB inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) group, with 6 rats in each group. Rats in OL and PDTC groups were used to establish one-lung ventilation model, and rats in PDTC group were subjected to intravenous injection of NF-kB specific inhibitor PDTC at 30 min before model construction. One-lung ventilation was performed for 3 h, and arterial blood gas analyzer was used for blood gas analysis. The hemodynamics and respiratory mechanics parameters were detected. The respiratory index (RI) and oxygenation index (OI) were calculated. The pathological changes of lung tissue were observed by HE staining. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 in lung tissue were detected by ELISA. The expression levels of p65, p-p65, p-IκBα and IκBα and the activity of NF-Kβ in lung tissue were detected by Western Blot.

Compared with OL group, HR, RI and W/D were significantly reduced and MAP and OI were significantly increased in PDTC group (p<0.05). Compared with OL group, alveolar fluid exudation, pulmonary interstitial thickening and inflammatory cell infiltration were significantly improved in PDTC group. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 in PDTC group were significantly lower than in OL group (p<0.05). The ratios of p-p65/p65 and p-IκBα/IκBα and the activity of NF-kB in OL group were significantly reduced than in PDTC group (p<0.05).

NF-kB can promote lung injury after one-lung ventilation, and the inhibition of NF-kB may be a new way for the treatment of this disease.