Exploring the Protective effects and Mechanism of Qilongtian on Lung injury in High-Altitude Hypoxia Model Rats Based on HIF-1α
Objective To explore the protective effects and mechanism of Qilongtian on lung injury in high-alti-tude hypoxia model rats,focusing on the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α).Methods Forty-five SPF-grade SD male rats were randomly divided into three groups:blank group,model group and Qilongtian group,with 15 rats in each group.Except for the blank group,all rats were administered Qilongtian for 3 consecutive days before modeling.A high-altitude hypoxia model was established using a hypobaric oxygen chamber for 72 hours.The water content of left lung tis-sue was measured,and RT-qPCR was used to detect mRNA expression levels of HIF-1α,vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),cytoglobin(CGB),erythropoietin(EPO),matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP9),and tissue inhibitor of met-alloproteinases 1(TIMP1)in lung tissue.Immunohistochemistry was used to detect protein expression of HIF-1α,VEGF,CGB,and EPO.Western blot was performed to analyze protein expression levels of MMP9 and TIMP1.Results The model group showed a significant increase in lung tissue water content compared to the blank group.In contrast,the Qilongtian group showed a significant reduction in lung tissue water content compared to the model group.The mRNA and protein ex-pression levels of HIF-1α,VEGF,CGB,EPO,MMP9,and TIMP1 were significantly elevated in the model group,while Qilongtian treatment significantly reduced these levels.Conclusion Qilongtian can reduce the water content in lung tis-sue,and its protective mechanism may involve the mitigation of oxidative stress and the regulation of downstream factors such as VEGF and MMP9 via HIF-1α.Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.