ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) expression changes and the impact of ulinastatin (UTI) METHODS: Seventy-two healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups: the control group, poisoning group and treatment group, with 24 rats in each group. The model of lung injury was established by intragastric PQ (80 mg/kg) administration in poisoning group and treatment group, and 1 mL saline was administered intragastrically in the control group. The rats in treatment group were injected intraperitoneally with UTI (100 000 U/kg) 30 minutes after PQ administration, and the rats in the control group and poisoning group were intraperitoneally injected with the same volume of saline. After different treatments, the pathological changes and the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue was detected in 12, 24, and 72 h in three groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the poisoning group and treatment group, the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue of rats were increased in 12 h after poisoning and reached the peak in 48 h; in 72 h after poisoning, the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue were decreased, but they were still high. Compared with the control group, the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue of rats were significantly increased in the poisoning group and treatment group (P < 0.05). And compared with the poisoning group, the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue of rats were significantly decreased in the treatment group (P < 0.01). The pathological changes were observed, including alveolar capillary expansion, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and alveolar inflammation cell infiltration, were found in lungs of rats in poisoning group and treatment group. There is no significant change in the control group. Compared with the control group, the expression of 4-HNE in lung tissue significantly increased in poisoning group and treatment group (P < 0.01), but the expression in treatment group was lower than in poisoning group (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expression of 4-HNE increased in PQ intoxicated rats. UTI may reduce the expression of 4-HNE and reduce lung injury in PQ intoxicated rats.</p>