Albumin resuscitation protects against traumatic/hemorrhagic shock-induced lung apoptosis in rats

Objective： To determine the effects of albumin administration on lung injury and apoptosis in traumatic/hemorrhagic shock （T/HS） rats. Methods： Studies were performed on an in vivo model of spontaneously breathing rats with induced T/HS; the rats were subjected to femur fracture, ischemia for 30 min, and reperfusion for 20 min with Ringer＇s lactate solution （RS） or 5% （w/v） albumin （ALB）, and the left lower lobes of the lungs were resected. Results： Albumin administered during reperfusion markedly attenuated injury of the lung and decreased the concentration of lactic acid and the number of in situ TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling （TUNEL）-positive cells. Moreover, immunohistochemistry performed 24 h after reperfusion revealed increases in the level of nuclear factor κB （NF-κB）, and phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase （MAPK） in the albumin-untreated group was down-regulated by albumin treatment when compared with the sham rats. Conclusion： Resuscitation with albumin attenuates tissue injury and inhibits T/HS-induced apoptosis in the lung via the p38 MAPK signal transduction pathway that functions to stimulate the activation of NF-κB.