Expression of Aquaporin-1 and Aquaporin-5 in a Rat Model of High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema and the Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Exposure

• Main Authors: Jiewen Tan MD, Chunjin Gao, Cong Wang PhD, Linlin Ma PhD, Xiaomin Hou PhD, Xuehua Liu PhD, Zhuo Li PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-10-01
• Series: Dose-Response
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/1559325820970821

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic roles of hyperbaric oxygen exposure on high-altitude pulmonary edema and to determine whether aquaporin-1 and aquaporin-5 were involved in the pathogenesis of HAPE in rats. Methods: Rats were divided into 5 groups: The control group, the HAPE group (HAPE model), the HBO group (hyperbaric oxygen exposure), the NBO group (normobaric oxygen exposure), and the NA group (normal air exposure). Western blot and real-time PCR were used to analyze the pulmonary expressions of AQP1 and AQP5. The wet-to-dry (W/D) weight ratio and the morphology of the lung were also examined. Results: The lung W/D weight ratio in the HAPE group was increased compared with the control group. The injury score in the HBO group was noticeably lower than that in the control group. The mRNA and proteins expressions of AQP1 and AQP5 were significantly downregulated in the HAPE group. Conclusions: Oxygen exposure alleviated high-altitude hypobaric hypoxia-induced lung injury in rats. Additionally, HBO therapy had significant advantage on interstitial HAPE.