Experimental study of acute lung injury induced by glutamate in vivo / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the possible injury induced by glutamate in the lung.@*METHODS@#The lung wet weight/body weight (LW/BW), lung wet/dry weight (W/D), the content of cells and the total protein (TP) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined together with the micromorphology observation.@*RESULTS@#(1) The LW/BW, W/D, the content of white blood cells, red blood cells and TP in BALF increased in a dose dependent manner 2 hours after the administration of the glutamate (0.50 - 0.75 g/kg). (2) Examination of histological sections showed the presence of lung inflammation charactered by neutrophils recruitment 2 hours after the glutamate administration. (3) The increase of W/D caused by glutamate (0.50 g/kg) was nearly abolished by pre-treatment with MK801 (a specific blocker of NMDA receptor, 0.1 mg/kg) for 30 minutes (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Glutamate can cause the acute lung injury through the activation of NMDA receptor in vivo.