Contribution of angiotensin II in hepatic ischemia /reperfusion induced lung injury: Acute versus chronic usage of captopril

Abstract Background Acute lung injury is one of the most popular consequences of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Recently it was documented that renin-angiotensin system plays a key role in tissue inflammation, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (the principal liver injury mediators) during I/R. Material and methods We investigated the effect of acute versus chronic usage of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (captopril) on liver inflammation and lung injury caused by hepatic ischemia for 1h followed by 24h reperfusion. Forty adult Wistar male rats were divided into sham, I/R, I/R-acute captopril (100 mg/kg, 24 and 1.5 h before surgery) and I/R-chronic captopril (10 mg/kg/day for 28 days before surgery) groups. Results We found captopril pretreatment significantly decreased liver damage indices, adhesion molecules, and TNF-α level in hepatic and tracheal tissues. Histologically, acute captopril pretreatment significantly decreased hepatic Kupffer cells number and lung α-smooth muscle actin expression more than chronic pretreatment. Increased tracheal tone, in response to acetylcholine, was suppressed by acute and chronic captopril pretreatment. Conclusion Angiotensin II plays a key role in tissue inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) via enhancing production of TNF-α. With more protection observed in lung, acute captopril could attenuate liver-induced lung injury via lowering TNF-α; a suggested possible mediator of airway hyperreactivity.