The Study of Pulmonary Aquaporin 1 and Aquaporin 5 Expression Levels in Acute Lung Injury Rat Induced by Smoke Inhalation

LI Huming; HAN Zhihai; ZHANG Chunyang; CHEN Xuxin; ZHANG Yan; CHEN Wei

doi:10.3639/j.issn.2095-3097.2025.05.023

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression levels of aquaporin1(AQP1),AQP5 in rat lung tissues with smoke inhalation injury.Methods Healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were randomly divided into a control group(NC group)(n=6)and a smoke inhalation group(B group)(n=40).Rats in the B group were exposed to smoke inhalation for 15 min-utes to induce smoke inhalation injury.At 1,6,12,and 24 hours after exposure(B1 h,B6 h,B12 h,and B24 h),the rats were treated and specimens were collected.Plasma inflammatory markers TNF-α and IL-6,lung tissue wet-to-dry ratio,and lung tissue histopathological staining were measured.Lung tissue samples were collected to detect the mRNA and protein levels of AQP1 and AQP5.Results After smoke inhalation,11 rats in the smoke inhalation group died while 29 rats survived,resulting in a survival rate of 72.5%.The plasma levels of inflammatory markers TNF-α and IL-6,as well as the lung tissue wet-to-dry ratio,were significantly increased at 1,6,12,and 24 hours after smoke inhalation compared to NC group(P<0.05).Histopatho-logical analysis revealed diffuse lung tissue injury in the smoke inhalation rats,characterized by varying degrees of inflamma-tory cell infiltration,hemorrhage,edema,and alveolar septal thickening.The mRNA and protein expression levels of AQP1 and AQP5 in the lung tissues of the smoke inhalation groups were significantly decreased compared to NC group(P<0.05).Immu-nohistochemistry staining showed lighter staining of AQP1 and AQP5 proteins in the lung tissues of rats after smoke inhalation.Conclusion Smoke inhalation can lead to acute lung injury in rats,characterized by lung tissue edema and decreased expres-sion levels of AQP1 and AQP5.The decreased expression of AQP1 and AQP5 is a pathogenic mechanism for the development of exudative edema and tissue injury in smoke inhalation injury.