Seabuckthorn Berries Attenuate Pulmonary Vascular Hyperpermeability in Lipopolysaccharide-induced Acute Lung Injury in Mice

Abstract Background Acute lung injury is featured by pulmonary vascular hyperpermeability, resulting in high short-term mortality. Currently pharmacological therapies are still sparse. Methods In the mice model of acute lung injury induced by Lipopolysaccharide, the effect of seabuckthorn berries extract on pulmonary vascular hyperpermeability was evaluated by histopathologic observation and transvascular leakage determination. The key factors involved in alveolar-capillary barrier lesion were assessed. Results The findings indicated that treatment of seabuckthorn berries alleviated morphological lesion as well as water, Evans blue and total proteins leakage in lung tissue, suppressed the release of TNF-α and IL-6, decreased accumulation of neutrophils, inhibited the activation of NF-κB and down-regulated the expression of ICAM-1 and CD62E. Conclusions These results demonstrated seabuckthorn berries help maintaining alveolar-capillary barrier integrity under endotoxin challenge in mice by suppressing the key factors in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury.