Systemic administration of
perfluorocarbons (PFCs) reportedly attenuates
acute lung injury induced by
acid aspiration and
phorbol myristate acetate. However, the effects of PFCs on
ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced
lung injury have not been investigated. Typical
acute lung injury was induced in rats by 60 min of
ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion in isolated and perfused rat lung model. Rat lungs were randomly assigned to receive PBS (control), 1 %
FC-77, IR only, or IR with different doses of
FC-77 (0.1 %, 0.5 %, or 1 %). Subsequently, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), perfusate, and lung tissues were collected to evaluate the degree of
lung injury. IR caused a significant increase in the following parameters: pulmonary arterial pressure, capillary filtration coefficient, lung
weight gain, lung
weight/body weight ratio, wet/dry lung weight ratio, and
protein concentration in BALF. TNF-α and
cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 concentrations in perfusate samples and MDA concentration and MPO activities in lung tissues were also significantly increased. Histopathology showed increased septal thickness and neutrophil infiltration in the lung tissues. Furthermore, NF-κB activity was significantly increased in the lungs. However, pretreatment with 1 %
FC-77 prior to IR significantly attenuated the increases in these parameters. In conclusion, our results suggest that systemic
FC-77 administration had a protective effect on IR-induced
acute lung injury. These protective mechanisms may have been mediated by the inhibition of NF-κB activation and attenuation of subsequent inflammatory response.