Protective Effect and Mechanism of Alprostadil in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Induced by Oleic Acid in Rats

Yan, Xiujuan; Li, Yingxiu; Choi, Yun Ho; Wang, Chongyang; Piao, Yihua; Ye, Jing; Jiang, Jingzhi; Li, Liangchang; Xu, Huixian; Cui, Qingsong; Yan, Guanghai; Jin, Minggen

Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), also known as acute lung injury (ALI), is one of the most challenging clinical conditions in critical care medicine. It is a severe, life-threatening medical condition characterized by acute and widespread inflammation in the lungs [1] , which leads to protein-rich nonhydrostatic pulmonary edema and refractory hypoxemia [2] . It increases lung "stiffness" and impairs the ability of the lung to remove carbon dioxide [3] . Many pathogenic conditions can trigger ARDS, such as sepsis and pneumonia [4] . Although the outcome of ARDS has improved with advances in ventilator strategies, mortality is still high. The LUNG SAFE study reports a 40% hospital mortality rate, with a significant increase across the ARDS severity categories, in line with the Berlin definition (34.9% in mild ARDS, 40.3% in moderate ARDS, and 46.1% in severe ARDS) [5] . No specific and effective pharmacological intervention for ARDS is currently available [3] ; therefore, it is critical to develop new clinical drugs for the treatment of ARDS.