[Experimental study on the prevention and treatment of radiation lung injury by blood-activating and stasis-dissipating drugs].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the pathological changes and the expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in lung tissue of rats with radiation injury for exploring the mechanism of blood-activating and stasis-dissipating drugs in radiation injury prevention and treatment.


METHODS
One hundred and thirty SD female rats were randomly allocated into the simple irradiation group (n=60), the TCM herbs treatment group (n=60) and the blank control group (n=10). The right lung of all rats except those in the blank control group were irradiated by linear accelerator, 3 Gy each time, twice weekly, the maximum accumulated dose being 30 Gy. Ten rats in the two groups were randomly sacrificed at each of the 6 time points (1, 3, 5, 8, 12 and 26 weeks after repeated irradiation), their lung was harvested out, sliced and dyed with HE stain. The histological changes, levels of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta expression in the lung tissue were then observed by immunohistochemical technique.


RESULTS
The most serious acute radiation pneumonia was seen in the 5th week and pulmonary fibrosis was remarkable in the 26th week in the simple irradiation group, with the expressions of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta at different time phases enhanced significantly (P < 0.01). While in the TCM herbs treatment group, the pneumonia was milder, pulmonary fibrosis in late stage was not so obvious, and the expressions of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta significantly lower than those in the simple irradiation group (P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Blood-activating and stasis-dissipating drugs can inhibit expression of inflammation-inducing factors and fibrosis-inducing factors to lessen the inflammatory reaction of early radiation pneumonia, prolong the progression of radiation lung fibrosis, showing preventive and treating action on radiation lung injury.
Yang
Ming-hui
MH
General Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100853.
Dou
Yong-qi
YQ
Liu
Zhe-feng
ZF
D000818:Animals; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D010315:Particle Accelerators; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017564:Radiation Pneumonitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha