Abstract:Objective To investigate the expression of Aquaporin-5 (AQP5) in the lung tissues of rats with acute lung injury (ALI) induced by differen tmechanical ventilation times. Methods 30 male SD rats were selected and randomly divided into 5 groups according to different hours of mechanical ventilation, namely the control group, 0.5 h group, 1.0 h group, 1.5 h group, and 2.0 h group, with 6 rats in each group. Observation indicators, such as lung tissue edema and injury degree by gross specimen of lung tissue, lung coefficient, and HE staining, were detected. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the expression of AQP5 in lung tissue of each group with pathological section staining and scoring. Results Five groups of lung coefficient, AQP5 staining intensity score, and AQP5 positive cell proportion score were compared respectively. After analysis of variance, the differences were statistically significant (F = 376.693, 207.522 and 216.311, all P < 0.05). Lung coefficient was negatively correlated with AQP5 staining intensity score (rs = -0.925, P < 0.05); lung coefficient was negatively correlated with AQP5 staining positive cell proportion score (rs = -0.951, P < 0.05). Conclusion With the extension of mechanical ventilation time, the degree of pulmonary edema gradually increased and the expression of AQP5 in lung tissue gradually decreased, which indicated AQP5 is involved in the occurrence and development of pulmonary edema induced by mechanical ventilation.