title: Vitamin E attenuates acute lung injury in sheep with burn and smoke inhalation injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A decrease in alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) plasma levels in burn patients is typically associated with increased mortality. We hypothesized that vitamin E supplementation (alpha-tocopherol) would attenuate acute lung injury induced by burn and smoke inhalation injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Under deep anesthesia, sheep (33 +/- 5 kg) were subjected to a flame burn (40% total body surface area, third degree) and inhalation injury (48 breaths of cotton smoke, < 40 degrees C). Half of the injured group received alpha-tocopherol (1000 IU vitamin E) orally, 24 h prior to injury. The sham group was neither injured nor given vitamin E. All three groups (n = 5 per group) were resuscitated with Ringer's lactate solution (4 ml/kg/%burn/24 h), and placed on a ventilator (PEEP = 5 cmH2O; tidal volume = 15 ml/kg) for 48 h.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma alpha-tocopherol per lipids doubled in the vitamin E treated sheep. Vitamin E treatment prior to injury largely prevented the increase in pulmonary permeability index and moderated the increase in lung lymph flow (52.6 +/- 6.2 ml/min, compared with 27.3 +/- 6.0 ml/min, respectively), increased the PaO2/FiO2 ratio, ameliorated both peak and pause airway pressure increases, and decreased plasma conjugated dienes and nitrotyrosine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pretreatment with vitamin E ameliorated the acute lung injury caused by burn and smoke inhalation exposure.
authors: The University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Anaesthesiology and Shriners Burns Hospital for Children, Galveston, Texas, USA.
authors: Naoki
authors: N
authors: Morita
authors: Katsumi
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authors: Shimoda
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authors: Traber