Overview of the Pathology of Three Widely Used Animal Models of Acute Lung Injury

Abstract

Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are syndromes of acute diffuse damage to the pulmonary parenchyma by a variety of local or systemic insults. Increased alveolar capillary membrane permeability was recognized as the common end organ injury and a central feature in all forms of ALI/ARDS. Although great strides have been made in understanding the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS and in intensive care medicine, the treatment approach to ARDS is still relying on ventilatory and cardiovascular support based on the recognition of the clinical picture. In the course of evaluating novel treatment approaches to ARDS, 3 models of ALI induced in different species, i.e. the surfactant washout lavage model, the oleic acid intravenous injection model and the endotoxin injection model, were widely used. This review gives an overview of the pathological characteristics of these models from studies in pigs, dogs or sheep. We believe that a good morphological description of these models, both spatially and temporally, will help us gain a better understanding of the real pathophysiological picture and apply these models more accurately and liberally in evaluating novel treatment approaches to ARDS.

Anti-inflammatory effects of Panax notoginseng saponins ameliorate acute lung injury induced by oleic acid and lipopolysaccharide in rats

“…The present study investigated the protective effects of PNS on ALI induced in a rat model. ALI was induced using oleic acid (OA) and LPS (23). OA has been reported to inhibit alveolar fluid reabsorption, which is a significant problem in ARDS (24).…”

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in rat lungs with lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury

“…Although previous studies have reported a reduction in mortality, due to the implementation of lung-protective ventilation strategies, the mortality rate remains high (~40%) (1,2). One of the main pathogenetic factors is sepsis and certain studies have demonstrated that sepsis-induced ALI/ARDS is closely associated with levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in plasma (3). Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) is induced by pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokine imbalance and has a detrimental role in LPS-induced ALI/ARDS.…”

C1q Deficiency Promotes Pulmonary Vascular Inflammation and Enhances the Susceptibility of the Lung Endothelium to Injury

“…These injury models were selected because of their ability to induce massive lung inflammation as well as to disrupt endothelial barrier functions (26,27). As shown in Fig.…”