[Effect of vaporized perfluorocarbon inspiration on cell apoptosis of intestine mucosa: experiment with pigs with acute lung injury].

Objective: To investigate the effect of vaporized perfluorocarbon (PFC) inspiration on cell apoptosis of intestine mucosa.
Methods: 18 piglets are randomly assigned to 3 groups, VMV group (n=8), undergoing intra-bronchial infusion of dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate so as to cause acute lung injury (ALI), then routine mechanical ventilation (MV) for 8 h during which vaporized PFC inspiration was given for 2 h, and then killed to have the small intestine taken out, CMV group (n=8), undergoing routine MV for 8 h after the establishment of ALI model as MV control group, and sham operation group (n=2), undergoing only laparotomy to take out the small intestine. Apoptosis index of intestine mucosa was examined by TUNEL. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression of BAX and bcl-2. RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of BAX and bcl-2.
Results: The apoptotic cells were mainly distributed in the intestinal villi of the VMV and CMV groups, and only a few apoptotic cells could be seen in the sham operation group. The apoptosis rate of the VMV group was (22.9+/-2.3)%, significantly lower than that of the CMV group [(70.6+/-3.4)%, P<0.05]. The protein expression of BAX of the VMV group was significantly lower than that of the CMV group (P<0.05), and the protein expressing of bcl-2 of the VMV group was significantly higher than that of the CMV group (P<0.05). The mRNA expression of BAX of the VMV group was 7.10+/-0.32, significantly lower than that of the CMV group (9.29+/-1.06, P<0.05), and the MRNA expression of bcl-2 of the VMV group was 10.29+/-2.51, significantly higher than that of the CMV group (5.18+/-1.08, P<0.05). The mRNA expression and protein expression of BAX and bcl-2 were all at very low levels in the sham operating group.
Conclusion: PFC vaporized inspiration may reduce mucosa apoptosis of small intestine, with the possible mechanism of inhibiting the expression of the BAX gene and raising the expression of the bcl-2 gene.