Objective To investigate whether the sleep-induced hypoxemia ( SIH) at different time and different level have different effects on pulmonary emphysema and coagulation systemfunction in the rats with pulmonary emphysema. Methods Thirty Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups( n = 10 in each group) . All rats were exposed to cigarette smoke twice a day ( 30 min each time) . From29th day on, the rats in Group A ( pulmonary emphysema with short SIH) were also exposed to mixed gas of 12. 5% oxygen for 1. 5 hours during sleeping time every day ( the expose time was divided into 4 periods, 22. 5 min each) . The rats in Group B ( pulmonary emphysema with mild SIH) were also exposed to mixed gas of 15% oxygen for three hours during sleeping time every day( the expose time was divided into 4 periods, 45 min each) . The rats in Group C( pulmonary emphysema with standard SIH) were also exposed to mixed gas of 12. 5% oxygen for three hours during sleeping time every day( the expose time was divided into 4 periods,45 min each) . After continuous exposure for 56 days, the rats were sacrificed. Semi-quantitative image analytic method was employed for histopathological analysis including pathological score of lungs, mean linear intercept ( MLI) and mean alveolus number( MAN) . ATⅢ, FIB, vWF, FⅧ were measured. Results All animals in three groups manifested the histopathological features of emphysema. Pathological scores of lungs and MLI of every group were significantly different from each other( F = 21. 907, F = 18. 415, all P lt; 0. 05) , Group A [ ( 61. 90 ±4. 25) % , ( 92. 45 ±1. 78) μm] and Group B[ ( 64. 60 ±3. 95) % , ( 92. 80 ±3. 65) μm] were significantly lower than Group C[ ( 73. 30 ±3. 86) % , ( 99. 32 ±2. 81) μm, q= 8. 96, q =6. 84, q = 12. 64, q =9. 65, all P lt; 0. 05] . Levels of FIB were significantly different among three groups ( F = 20. 592, P lt; 0. 05) while FIB in Group A[ ( 189. 98 ±5. 29) mg/ dL] and Group B[ ( 182. 70 ±2. 78) mg /dL] were significantly lower than that in Group C[ ( 198. 40 ±7. 37) mg/ dL, q = 4. 86, q= 9. 07, all P lt; 0. 05] , and FIB in Group A was significantly higher than that in Group B( q = 4. 20, P lt; 0. 05) . Levels of FⅧ were significantly different from each other( F = 33. 652, P lt;0. 05) while FⅧ in Group A[ ( 232. 26 ±4. 17) % ]and Group B[ ( 242. 53 ±14. 50) % ] were significantly lower than that in Group C[ ( 303. 25 ±32. 93) % ,q= 10. 73, q = 9. 18, all P lt; 0. 05] . Conclusions Pulmonary emphysema and hypercoagulable states increases with time and severity of SIH in rats with pulmonary emphysema. The elevated activity of blood coagulation factor may be a critical role in the hypercoagulable states.
Objective To investigate the effect of lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) on messenger RNA expression levels of cytoskeletal proteins in diaphragmatic muscle tissues of emphysematous rabbits. Methods A total of 40 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups (10 rabbits in each group) :normal control group, emphysema group, sham operation group and LVRS group. Rabbits in control group were intratracheally administered with 0.9% normal sodium, but those in other groups were intratracheally administered with 0.4% papain at the dose of 0.5 ml/kg and inhaled cigarette smoke to induce emphysema model. Then, rabbits in emphysema group were fed routinely, however, after median sternotomy , bilateral LVRS was performed in LVRS group but not in sham operation group. The mRNA expression levels of titin and nebulin in the diaphragmatic muscles of rabbits in each group were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). Results Compared with control group, the mRNA expression levels of titin and nebulin in the rabbit diaphragm of emphysema groups and sham operation group decreased significantly (P〈0.01 ), so did those in LVRS group (P〈0.05). But it increased significantly in LVRS group compared with emphysema group and sham operation group (P〈0.05). Conclusion LVRS can increase the mRNA expression levels of titin and nebulin in diaphragmatic muscle tissues of emphysematous rabbits, which may be the associated mechanisms at the molecular level in restoring the functions of the emphysematous diaphragm by LVRS.