Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) attenuated paraquat induced lung damage in mice

Context: Accumulating evidences have proposed the critical roles of oxidative stress in the etiology of lung injury caused by paraquat (PQ). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which has been proved to possess prominent antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of DHA against acute lung injury (ALI) induced by PQ in mice. Materials and methods: Male Kunming mice were randomly divided into three groups: control group, PQ group, and PQ+DHA group (n = 24). The mice of PQ+DHA group received 500 mg/kg bodyweight DHA by gavage daily for consecutive 14 days. On day 8, the mice in PQ and PQ+DHA groups received a single oral dose of 50 mg/kg bodyweight PQ. All the mice were sacrificed on day 15. The myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities, levels of the malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH), and the 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and MDA modified proteins of lung were investigated. Results: DHA treatment significantl...