The rat lung injury at the early stage after blast exposure to mini cabin

Objective To explore the dynamic changes of lung injury and the secretion of plasma IL-1β and TNF-α at the early stage after exposure to mini cabin blast wave in awake rats. Methods Sim-ulating fragment of the explosive weapons with high-speed steel spheres and considering explosive wave of electric-detonator as explosive weapons blast in mini cabin and open field, the experimental model was de-veloped in the awake rats. The pathological lung scoring and the changes of secretion of plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in different time points after injury were observed to detect the characteristics of the early inflammation. Results No difference in mean pressures was found,but the duration of pressure and maximal rising time in mini cabin was 14.0 ms and 0.06 ms respectively,which were longer than those of blast wave in open field (P\u003c0.01). The injury score and pathological changes of lung injury indicated the higher severity in mini cabin compared to open field. The plasma con-tents of IL-1β and TNF-α reached the climax at 8th and 12th h respectively in mini cabin after explosion (P\u003c0.01), and the contents at 72nd h were still higher than in open field. Conclusion The blast wave in mini cabin showed the characteristics of complex blast wave, the damage to lung was more serious than that in open field,and the degree of severity might be related to the secretion of TNF-α and IL-1β.\r\n\r\nKey words: \r\nLung injury;  Cabin;  Blast injury