Effect of Xuebijing on lung fibrosis in a rat model of oleic acid-induced lung injury

Objective To investigate the effect of Xuebijing (Chinese herbal medicine preparation) on lung fibrosis in a rat model of oleic acid - induced lung injury.Methods Sixty SPF level of male Wistar rats were randomly ( random number) divided into three groups ( n =20 ):normal control group ( group A),oleic acid model group (group B),oleic acid and Xuebijing group (group C).Rats in group A were injected with normal saline (0.13 ml/kg) ; acute lung injury (ALI) model rats were injected with oleic acid (0. 13 ml/kg) intravenously in B and C groups.Twelve hours after administrations of saline or oleic acid into rats of three groups separately,samples of arterial blood from all rats were taken for blood gas analysis.By analysis of blood oxygen partial pressure,the acute lung injury model successfully made was confirmed.Then the rats in group C were treated with xuebijing (4 ml/kg) intravenously,once a day from the 1st to 7th day.The rats in groups A and B were treated with saline (4 ml/kg).Five rats in each group were randomly sacrificed on the 1st,7th,14th,28th day,separately.The bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of left lung of all rats was carried out after weight of lung weighed.The lefi lungs of rats were weighed in wet and dry in order to get the wet/dry ratio.Venous blood and BAL fluid (BALF) were obtained for detection of procollagen Ⅲ ( PC Ⅲ ) concentrations with enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Right upper lobe of lung specimens was taken for histopathological examination after paraffin - embedded sections with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson staining.Multiple comparisons were analyzed by using oneway analysis of variance (SNK-q test).Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS 13.0 software.Results Oxygenation index of groups B and C ( PaO2/FiO2 ＜ 300) significantly decreased compared with the group A ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Levels of serum PC Ⅲ on the 14th day and 28th day in group C decreased significantly in comparison with group B ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Compared with group A,the levels of BALF PC Ⅲ and serum PC Ⅲ in group B and group C on the 7th day,14th day and 28th day increased ( P ＜ 0.01 ).Levels of PC Ⅲ in BALF on the 7th day,14th day and 28th day in C group decreased in comparison with group B ( P ＜0.01 ).Compared with group A,the levels of PCⅢ in BALF in group B and group C on the 7th day,14th day and 28th day increased ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions The result suggests that treatment with xuebijing may be useful in inhibiting pulmonary fibrosis during the course of ALI in rots. Key words: Acute lung injury ; Acute respiratory distress syndrome; Pulmonary fibrosis; Xuebijing; Oleic acid; Ⅲ procollagen; HE staining; Masson staining