Hypobaric-hypoxia-induced pulmonary damage in rats ameliorated by antioxidant erdosteine

Free radical-mediated injury to lung and pulmonary vasculature is an important mechanism in hypoxia-induced lung damage. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential protective effects of erdosteine as an antioxidant agent on hypobaric hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Adult male rats were assigned randomly to three groups. The first group of rats was exposed to hypobaric-hypoxia and the second group was treated with erdosteine (20 mg/kg, daily) for 2 weeks, during which time they were in a hypoxic chamber. These groups were compared with normoxic controls. All rats were sacrificed after 2 weeks. The hypoxia-induced increase in right ventricle to left ventricle plus septum weight ratio (from 0.20±0.01 to 0.26±0.01) was reduced significantly in the erdosteine-treated group (0.23±0.01). Malondialdehyde levels were elevated (from 0.33±0.11 to 0.59±0.02) and total antioxidant status was not changed significantly (from 1.77±0.42 to 2.61±0.23) by hypoxia. In contrast to the hypoxia-exposed group, malondialdehyde levels were significantly decreased in the erdosteine-treated group (0.37±0.02). Total antioxidant status (4.03±0.22) was significantly higher in erdosteine-treated rats when compared to non-treated rats. Histopathological examination demonstrated that erdosteine prevented inflammation and protected lung parenchyma and pulmonary endothelium of hypoxia-exposed rats.