Objectives: Acute lung injury (ALI) is an inflammatory condition, therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the effect of insulin (an immunomodulatory agent) in oleic acid (OA)-induced ALI in rat model. Materials and Methods: The experiments were performed on adult male albino rats (total n = 18). The trachea, jugular vein and carotid artery of anaesthetised adult rats were cannulated to keep the respiratory tract patent, deliver saline/drugs and recording of blood pressure, respectively. Animals were divided into three groups. In Group I (control group), normal saline (75 μL) was injected and this group served as control group. In Group II (OA group), OA (75 μL) was administered to induce ALI in rats. In Group III (insulin + OA), OA (75 μL) was injected in insulin pre-treated rats. Respiratory frequency (RF), heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were recorded on computerised chart recorder; arterial blood sample was collected to determine PaO2/FiO2. Further, pulmonary water content was determined, and histological examination of the lung was done in all animals. Results: Injection of OA produced ALI indicated by significant increase in RF by 30 min followed by progressive decrease and ultimately death of animal. Significant increase in the pulmonary water content and decrease in PaO2/FiO2 were observed in these animals. Histological examination of lungs showed damage to the lung parenchyma. An immediate decrease in HR and MAP followed by some improvement and then progressive decrease was also observed. Conclusions: Insulin (an immunomodulatory agent) pre-treatment delayed initiation of OA-induced ALI as indicated by protection against OA-induced severe alteration in the RF in the initial stage and less lung injury in histological examination, although; it could not alter the overall course of the disease.

Familiarity could be a key attribute of attention for visual perception of objects in our environment.Subjective ratings of familiarity with visual objects could be influenced by individuals’ attention and judgment ability. The current study investigated the relationship between subjective familiarity perception of visual objects with the objective measures of individuals’ attention and judgment ability in forty-seven healthy participants. Familiarity ratings of the visual objects belonging to four categories (Human, Inanimate, Animal, Plant) were collected from the participants. Attention and judgment ability of the participants were assessed objectively using attentional blink task and relative area estimation task respectively. Individuals’ who were objectively less attentive and prone to judgment errors manifested a high propensity to subjectively rate the visual objects as more familiar. The current study findings indicate the importance of objective cognitive assessment for fitness testing of jobs that involve one’s subjective visual perception such as pilots, air traffic controllers and navy personnel.

ContextReactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by inflammatory cells play a major role in mediating lung injury in sepsis or hyperoxic lung injury. AimsN-Acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, was examined in this research to see whether it helps prevent acute lung injury (ALI). Materials and methodsExperiments were performed on Charles-Foster strain healthy male adult albino rats. All the animals were randomly divided into one control and two experimental groups. In control/group I, saline was administered, and cardiorespiratory parameters were recorded. Oleic acid (OA) was administered in group II to produce ALI. In group III, OA was administered to NAC-pretreated rats, and cardiorespiratory parameters were recorded to observe the effect of NAC on ALI. This study used analysis of variance (ANOVA) with two factors and a post hoc test (multiple comparisons -least significant difference (LSD) test) for statical analysis. For determining survival time, the Mantel-Cox test and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. ResultsRespiratory arrest, pulmonary edema, and reduced partial pressure of oxygen (PaO 2 )/fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO 2 ) ratio were all indications of OA-induced ALI in rats. The animals in the NAC + OA group had better respiratory and cardiac statistics than those in the OA alone group, and their survival duration was extended. However, NAC pretreatment could not protect the animals against the development of pulmonary edema. ConclusionsThese observations indicate that NAC (an antioxidant agent) protected rats against ALI in the initial phase and prolonged the survival time but failed to prevent the development of pulmonary edema.