title: Effects of N-acetylcysteine and pentoxifylline on remote lung injury in a rat model of hind-limb ischemia/reperfusion injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and pentoxifylline in a model of remote organ injury after hind-limb ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in rats, the lungs being the remote organ system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five male Wistar rats were assigned to one of five conditions (n = 7/group), as follows: sham operation (control group); hind-limb ischemia, induced by clamping the left femoral artery, for 2 h, followed by 24 h of reperfusion (I/R group); and hind-limb ischemia, as above, followed by intraperitoneal injection (prior to reperfusion) of 150 mg/kg of NAC (I/R+NAC group), 40 mg/kg of pentoxifylline (I/R+PTX group), or both (I/R+NAC+PTX group). At the end of the trial, lung tissues were removed for histological analysis and assessment of oxidative stress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparison with the rats in the other groups, those in the I/R group showed lower superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione levels, together with higher malondialdehyde levels and lung injury scores (p < 0.05 for all). Interstitial inflammatory cell infiltration of the lungs was also markedly greater in the I/R group than in the other groups. In addition, I/R group rats showed various signs of interstitial edema and hemorrhage. In the I/R+NAC, I/R+PTX, and I/R+NAC+PTX groups, superoxide dismutase activity, glutathione levels, malondialdehyde levels, and lung injury scores were preserved (p < 0.05 for all). The differences between the administration of NAC or pentoxifylline alone and the administration of the two together were not significant for any of those parameters (p > 0.05 for all).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that NAC and pentoxifylline both protect lung tissue from the effects of skeletal muscle I/R. However, their combined use does not appear to increase the level of that protection.
authors.affiliation: Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed Ashrafzadeh
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Takhtfooladi
authors.affiliation: Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hesaraki
authors.affiliation: Novin Pet Clinic, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Foad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Razmara
authors.affiliation: Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Ashrafzadeh
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Takhtfooladi
authors.affiliation: Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hajizadeh
mesh_terms: D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005978:Glutathione / Q000032:analysis; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000098:blood supply; D007511:Ischemia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010431:Pentoxifylline / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011897:Random Allocation; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000032:analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005978:Glutathione; D010431:Pentoxifylline; D000111:Acetylcysteine