Ulinastatin suppresses systemic inflammatory response following lung ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats

Objective. We sought to investigate whether ulinastatin (urinary trypsin inhibitor) inhibited systemic inflammatory responses following lung ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Materials and Methods. Establishing a steady left lung warm I/R model in rats, we randomly divided 32 animals into 4 groups: sham (n = 8); I/R (n = 8); low-dose ulinastatin (5000 U/kg pre-ischemia) + I/R (n = 8); and high-dose ulinastatin (10,000 U/kg pre-ischemia) + I/R (n = 8). Measured variables included plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), as well as interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. Results. The serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 in the ulinastatin pretreated groups were markedly decreased compared with those of the I/R group (P < .05). The levels of TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-8 were lower in the high-dose ulinastatin group compared with the low-dose ulinastatin group (P < .05). Conclusion. Ulinastatin produced dose-dependent attenuation of the systemic inflammatory response of rats following lung I/R injury.