Effects of overinflation on procollagen type III expression in experimental acute lung injury

INTRODUCTION: In acute lung injury (ALI), elevation of procollagen type III (PC III) occurs early and has an adverse impact on outcome. We examined whether different high-inflation strategies of mechanical ventilation (MV) in oleic acid (OA) ALI alter regional expression of PC III. METHODS: We designed an experimental, randomized, and controlled protocol in which rats were allocated to two control groups (no injury, recruited [alveolar recruitment maneuver after tracheotomy without MV; n = 4 rats] and control [n = 5 rats]) or four injured groups (one exposed to OA only [n = 10 rats] and three OA-injured and ventilated). The three OA-injured groups were ventilated for 1 hour according to the following strategies: LVHP-S (low volume-high positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP], supine; n = 10 rats, tidal volume [V(T)] = 8 ml/kg, PEEP = 12 cm H(2)O), HVLP-S (high volume-low PEEP, supine; n = 10 rats, V(T )= 20 ml/kg, PEEP = 5 cm H(2)O), and HVLP-P (high volume-low PEEP, prone; n = 10 rats). Northern blot analysis for PC III and interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and polymorphonuclear infiltration index (PMI) counting were performed in nondependent and dependent regions. Regional differences between groups were assessed by two-way analysis of variance after logarithmic transformation and post hoc tests. RESULTS: A significant interaction for group and region effects was observed for PC III (p = 0.012) with higher expression in the nondependent region for HVLP-S and LVHP-S, intermediate for OA and HVLP-P, and lower for control (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η(2 )= 0.767; region effect, p = 0.0007, partial η(2 )= 0.091). We found high expression of IL-1β (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η(2 )= 0.944) in the OA, HVLP-S, and HVLP-P groups without regional differences (p = 0.16). PMI behaved similarly (group effect, p < 0.00001, partial η(2 )= 0.832). CONCLUSION: PC III expression is higher in nondependent regions and in ventilatory strategies that caused overdistension. This response was partially attenuated by prone positioning.