What is the central question of this study? Although different studies have attempted to find factors that influence the expression of aquaporins (AQPs) in the lung in different situations, to date no research group has explored the expression of AQP1 and AQP5 jointly in rats mechanically ventilated with different tidal volumes in a model of ventilator-induced lung injury. What is the main finding? Mechanical ventilation with a high tidal volume causes lung injury and oedema, increasing lung permeability. In rats ventilated with a high tidal volume, the pulmonary expression of AQP1 decreases. We analysed the expression of aquaporins 1 and 5 and its relation with tidal volume in a model of ventilator-induced lung injury. Forty-two rats were used. Six non-ventilated animals were killed (control group). The remaining rats were ventilated for 2 h with different tidal volumes (group 7ML with 7 ml kg-1 and group 20ML with 20 ml kg-1 ) and a respiratory rate of 90 breaths min-1 . Lung oedema was measured, and the expression of AQP1 and AQP5 was determined by Western immunoblotting and measurement of mRNA. Lung oedema and alveolar-capillary membrane permeability were significantly increased in the animals of group 20ML compared with the control group. Expression of AQP1 was decreased in groups 7ML and 20ML compared with the control group. In conclusion, mechanical ventilation with a high tidal volume causes lung injury and oedema, increasing lung permeability. In rats ventilated with a high tidal volume, the pulmonary expression of AQP1 decreases.
Keywords: aquaporins; protein expression; ventilator induced lung injury.
© 2016 The Authors. Experimental Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.