Correlation Between sPLA2-llA and Phosgene-Induced Rat Acute Lung Injury

Secreted phospholipase A2 of group IIA (sPLA2-IIA) has been involved in a variety of inflammatory diseases, including acute lung injury. However, the specific role of sPLA2-IIA in phosgene-induced acute lung injury remains unidentified. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between sPLA2-IIA activity and the severity of phosgene-induced acute lung injury. Adult male rats were randomly exposed to either normal room air (control group) or a concentration of 400 ppm phosgene (phosgene-exposed group) for there are 5 phosgene-exposed groups altogether. For the time points of 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h post-exposure, one phosgene-exposed group was sacrificed at each time point. The severity of acute lung injury was assessed by PaO2/FIO2 ratio, wet-to-dry lung-weight ratio, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid protein concentration. sPLA2-IIA activity in BAL fluid markedly increased between 1 h and 12 h after phosgene exposure, and reached its highest level at 6 h. Moreover, the trend of this elevation correlated well with the severity of lung injury. These results indicate that sPLA2-IIA probably participates in phosgene-induced acute lung injury.