Effect of N-acetylcysteine on lung and heart injury of rats with a fast floating escape induced decompression sickness / 军事医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of N-acetylcysteine ( NAC) on lung and heart injury of rats with a fast floating escape induced decompression sickness .Methods Eighty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and evenly divided into four groupscontrol group and three NAC prevention groups .The NAC groups were treated with different doses of NAC(250, 500 or 1000 mg/kg)by intraperitoneal injection 1 h before entrance.In the control group, rats were given an equal volume of saline1h before entrance.The air was pressurized at the 2t/7 exponential rate to 1.5 MPa which was maintained for 4 min and then uniformly decompressed to atmospheric pressure .The extravehicular survival and pathological changes in the lung and heart tissue were detected 0.5 h after rat egress.Results The survival rate of rats treated with NAC 500 mg/kg(90%) was significantly higher than that of those treated with saline (65%)alone (P<0.05).There was large break and fusion in the structure of pulmonary alveolus of control group besides obvious erythrocyte exudation , cardiac muscle fibers edema ,and obvious denaturation and break .Conclusion NAC can play a protective role in rats with a fast floating escape induced decompression sickness by mitigating the injury to and inflammation of lung and heart tissue .