Effects of Sodium Aescinate on the Apoptosis-related Genes in Lung Injury Induced by Intestinal Ischemia Reperfusion in Rats

Objective To investigate the relationship between apoptosis-related genes and lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia reperfusion and to explore the effects and its possible mechanism of sodium aescinate.Methods Rat model of intestinal I/R injury was established with clamping of the superior mesenteric artery for 60 min and then clamping was relieved for 60 min.Twenty-four SD rats were randomly divided into three groups with eight rats in each: sham group,intestinal ischemia/reperfusion group(I/R group) and sodium aescinate group(SA+I/R group).Lung wet/dry weight ratio,lung coefficient and Superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA) in plasma and lung tissue were measured,as well as the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in lung tissue were examined using immunohistochemical method.Results Compared with sham group,lung wet/dry weight ratio,lung coefficient and MDA in plasma and lung tissue were significantly increased,and while the activity of SOD in plasma and lung tissue were decreased significantly in I/R group.At the same time,the protein expression level of Bcl-2 and Bax were significantly increased.But Bax protein expression was much greater than that of Bcl-2,the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax was decreased significantly in I/R group than that in sham group.Compared with I/R group,lung wet/dry weight ratio,lung coefficient and MDA in plasma and lung tissue were significantly decreased,and while the activity of SOD in serum and lung tissue were significantly increased in SA+I/R group. At the same time,Bax protein expression was significantly decreased,both Bcl-2 protein expression and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax were significantly increased in SA+I/R group than that in I/R group.Conclusion Lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia reperfusion is correlated with abnormal expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax protein which is caused by oxidative injury.Sodium aescinate can protect the lung injury induced by intestinal ischemia/reperfusion(I/R),which may be mediated by inhibiting lipid peroxidation,upregulating Bcl-2 gene protein expression,improving the ratio of Bcl-2/ Bax to inhibit lung apoptosis.