[Protective effect of Ginkgo biloba extract on acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide in D-galactose aging rats].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on acute lung injury(ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in aging rats.


METHODS
The rats were randomly divided into two parts: six rats served as normal controls; 18 rats were used for producing the aging animal model ( D-gal 50 mg/kg body weight was injected intraperitoneally, once a day for 6 weeks). The aging rats were then randomly divided into 3 groups: 6 rats as the aging control group; another 6 as the LPS treated aging group (LPS,5 mg/kg body weight intravenous injection); and the third as the GBE+LPS group (6 rats, GBE was started 7 days before the experiment,given once a day via the esophagus, the amount of flavone glycosides administered being 8 mg/kg body weight, and on the day of experiment, one dose of GBE was given 2 hours before LPS administration ). The samples were collected 2 hours after LPS or saline administration.


RESULTS
Compared with normal controls, the SOD activity in red cells and the Na(+) -K(+) -ATPase activity in the lung tissue decreased markedly (all P < 0.05), but the LDH activity increased (P < 0.05) in the aging rats. ALI was observed in the aging rats 2 hours after LPS administration. Compared with the aging control, in the LPS treated rats, there were more inflammatory cells in the lung tissue; protein content in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and the pulmonary permeability index (PPI) increased significantly (all P < 0.001); LD, MDA, NO(2) (-)/NO(3)(-), ET-1 and TNF-alpha content and LDH activity in blood, and MPO activity in lung tissue all increased significantly. On the contrary, SOD activity in red cells and Na(+) -K(+) -ATPase activity in lung tissue decreased markedly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). These changes, except SOD, were markedly attenuated in the GBE+LPS rats.


CONCLUSIONS
The anti-oxidant activity was decreased in D-gal-induced aging rats. Intravenous administration of LPS caused acute lung injury in aging rats. GBE had protective effect on ALI induced by LPS.
Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, CAMS and PUMC, Beijing 100005, China.
Renyu
R
Sun
Hong
H
Zhang
Qin
Q
Si
Shiwen
S
Wang
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D005690:Galactose; D020441:Ginkgo biloba / Q000737:chemistry*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism; D009573:Nitrites / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000254:Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D019332:Endothelin-1; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D009566:Nitrates; D009573:Nitrites; D010936:Plant Extracts; D020011:Protective Agents; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D000254:Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase; D005690:Galactose