Table 1.
Primers for RT-qPCR.
Table 2.
Values of blood gas indices, W/D weight ratios and lung injury score (n = 10;±s).
Fig 1.
Comparison of pathological characteristics among groups (supporting information files can be found in S1 Raw images).
A: sham group, B: vehicle group, C: low-dose group, D: medium-dose group, E: high-dose group. The lung tissue structure of rats in the sham group was clear, with thin and smooth alveolar walls, consistent alveolar intervals, and no invasion of inflammatory cells; in the vehicle group the alveolar spaces were narrowed or disappeared, with significant increase of inflammatory cells in the lumens, lung congestion, interstitial oedema, and diffuse inflammatory cell infiltration. Administration of sivelestat sodium resulted in a slight narrowing of the alveolar spaces, thickening of some alveolar lumens, lung congestion, mild interstitial oedema, and small focal inflammatory cell infiltration, with the improvement being particularly marked in the high-dose group.
Table 3.
Values of indicated biochemical indices (n = 10; ± s).
Fig 2.
Changes in relative protein expression of Bax, Bcl-2, PI3K, Akt, P-Akt and mTOR in the lung tissues of rats in each group (supporting information files can be found in S2 Raw images).
Compared with the sham group, the expression of Bax, PI3K, Akt, P-Akt and mTOR proteins in the vehicle group was significantly higher (P<0.05), and the expression of Bcl-2 proteins was significantly lower (P<0.01); compared with the vehicle group, the expression levels of Bax, PI3K, Akt, P-Akt and mTOR proteins in the lung tissues of the rats of each dose group of sivelestat sodium were significantly lower (P<0.01). Akt and mTOR protein expression levels were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) and Bcl-2 protein expression was significantly increased (P < 0.01) in the lung tissues of rats in each dose group of sivelestat sodium. Note: *: compared between the sham and vehicle group, *P < 0.05; #: compared between the vehicle group and sivelestat sodium groups: #P < 0.05.