Lesão pulmonar aguda induzida por injeção intraperitoneal de lipopolissacáride em ratos wistar com ou sem enfisema induzido por elastase

Abstract

Introduction: The response of lungs with emphysema to a systemic insult such as sepsis is not known. Structural and inflammatory abnormalities in lungs caused by emphysema might alter their response to sepsis and thus influence the incidence and severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome. We therefore aimed to compare the severity and extension of acute lung injury in response to intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection in rats with and without emphysema induced by elastase. Methods: Twenty four adult Wistar rats were randomized into 4 groups, each of them with 6 animals: control (C-C), emphysema without sepsis (E-C), control with sepsis (C-LPS) and emphysema with sepsis (E-LPS). Emphysema was induced by intratracheal instillation of pancreatic porcine elastase (12 IU/animal). Three weeks later, sepsis was induced by intraperitoneal Escherichia coli LPS injection (10 mg/kg). Twenty four hours after sepsis induction, animals underwent mechanical ventilation for 10 minutes and then blood was sampled for gasometric analysis. Thereafter, euthanasia and the following analysis were performed: BAL, lung permeability and histology. Results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range), when appropriate, and compared using ANOVA followed by Tukey test or Kruskal-Wallis followed by Mann-Whitney test. Results: Significant increase in lung injury score was observed in the C-LPS [0.62 (0.19)] and E-LPS [0.59 (0.13)] compared to the groups C-C [0.11 (0.09)] and E-C [0.15 (0.05)] (p < 0.05). Total cell (C-LPS=2.37 ± 0.74; E-LPS=5.37 ± 0.13; C-C=0.73 ± 0.36; E-C=3.09 ± 7.53 x 105) and neutrophil counts [C-LPS=1.39 (1.48); E-LPS=4.39 (1.95); C-C=0.065 (0.11); E-C=0.68 (0.61) x 105] in the BAL were significantly higher in the groups that received LPS (p < 0.05). Significantly higher total cell and neutrophil counts in the BAL were also observed in the E-LPS group compared to C-LPS (p < 0.05). The group E-LPS showed a significant increase in the BAL/serum albumin ratio compared to C-LPS [0.069 (1.243) vs. 0.007 (0.002), respectively] (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the gas exchange levels among the groups. Conclusions: The presence of emphysema increases the inflammatory response in the lungs to a systemic stimulus, represented in this model by the intraperitoneal injection of LPS.