Experimental lung research
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Ventilator-induced lung injury in children and adults is characterized by an initial inflammatory phase. To investigate whether the inflammatory cytokine, IL-1, plays a role in this process, a rabbit model of ventilator-induced injury was created. Animals maintained under pentobarbital anesthesia were primed for injury by undergoing lung lavage with 22 mL/kg of saline and then ventilated for 8 h with either FIO2 0.21 and normal pressures or FIO2 1.0 and high ventilator pressures. ⋯ These animals had significantly lower concentrations of albumin and elastase and lower neutrophil counts in their lungs after the 8-h ventilatory period compared to hyperoxia/hyperventilation rabbits. IL-1 blockade had no effect on the decline in dynamic compliance and oxygenation seen in saline-treated hyperoxic/hyperventilated rabbits. IL-1 is a mediator of acute inflammation due to ventilator-induced lung injury.