American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology
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Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell Mol. Physiol. · Aug 2004
Effect of lung-protective ventilation on severe Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia and sepsis in rats.
Pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa carries a high rate of morbidity and mortality. A lung-protective strategy using low tidal volume (V(T)) ventilation for acute lung injury improves patient outcomes. The goal of this study was to determine whether low V(T) ventilation has similar utility in severe P. aeruginosa infection. ⋯ Bronchoalveolar lavage revealed higher concentrations of TNF-alpha in the fluid of noninvolved lung undergoing high V(T) ventilation compared with those animals receiving low V(T). We conclude that low V(T) ventilation is protective in noninvolved regions and that the application of high PEEP attenuated the beneficial effects of low V(T) ventilation, at least short term. Furthermore, low V(T) ventilation cannot protect the involved lung, and high PEEP did not significantly alter lung injury over a short time course.
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Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell Mol. Physiol. · Aug 2004
Inhaled nitric oxide attenuates pulmonary hypertension and improves lung growth in infant rats after neonatal treatment with a VEGF receptor inhibitor.
VEGF plays a critical role during lung development and is decreased in human infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Inhibition of VEGF receptors in the newborn rat decreases vascular growth and alveolarization and causes pulmonary hypertension (PH). Nitric oxide (NO) is a downstream mediator of VEGF, but whether the effects of impaired VEGF signaling are due to decreased NO production is unknown. ⋯ Importantly, iNO treatment prevented the increase in RVH and improved RAC after SU-5416 treatment. We conclude that treatment of neonatal rats with SU-5416 downregulates lung eNOS expression and that iNO therapy decreases PH and improves lung growth after SU-5416 treatment. We speculate that decreased NO production contributes to PH and decreases distal lung growth caused by impaired VEGF signaling.
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Am. J. Physiol. Lung Cell Mol. Physiol. · Aug 2004
20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid is a vasoconstrictor in the newborn piglet pulmonary microcirculation.
20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), a cytochrome p-450 metabolite of arachidonic acid, is a vasoconstrictor in the systemic circulation and a vasodilator in the adult pulmonary circulation. Little is known about the vasoactive properties of 20-HETE in the newborn pulmonary circulation. The objectives of this study were to determine the vascular effects of 20-HETE and to explore the signaling mechanism(s) that mediate these effects in newborn pulmonary resistance-level arteries (PRA). ⋯ Furthermore, inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) with indomethacin augments 20-HETE-induced constriction. The enhanced constrictor response to 20-HETE under conditions of COX inhibition is abolished in endothelium-disrupted PRA, suggesting that 20-HETE either stimulates endothelium-derived COX to release a counteracting vasodilator or is rapidly metabolized by COX to a less potent vasoconstrictor. 20-HETE-induced constriction is significantly inhibited by blocking calcium-dependent K(+) (K(Ca)) channels and the thromboxane-PGH(2) receptor. Altogether, our data indicate that the vascular actions of 20-HETE are partially mediated via the activation of K(Ca) channels and are significantly modulated by interactions with the COX-prostaglandin pathway.