The recovery was more than 90%. The results were expressed as nmol MDA g/tissue. The amount of GSH in the tissues was measured according to the method of Sedlak and Lindsay [48]. The tissues were weighed and homogenized in 2 ml of 50 mm Tris–HCl buffer containing 20 mm erthylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 0·2 m sucrose, pH 7·5. The homogenate was precipitated immediately with 0·1 ml of 25% trichloroacetic acid, and the precipitate was removed after centrifugation at 987.84 g for 40 min at 4°C. The supernatant was used to determine GSH using 5,5′-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid). Absorbance was measured at 412 nm using a spectrophotometer.

The results of GSH levels in the tissues were expressed as AZD6244 cell line nmol mg/tissue. Light microscopy.  Lung and kidney tissue samples were fixed in 10% buffered formalin for 48 h. After fixation, each cAMP inhibitor lung tissue sample was processed routinely and embedded in paraffin. After embedding, 5-µm sections

were taken from the tissue blocks and stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), after which they were photographed for histopathological examination using a light microscope with a digital camera attachment. Sections were obtained systematically and sampled randomly, and they were then scored depending on the degree of inflammation in the perivascular area as follows: 0: no cell; 1: a few cells; 2: many cells in the peripheral parts of the perivascular area; and 3: numerous cells in the perivascular area [49]. All the rats were killed 16 h later by an overdose of general anaesthetic (thiopental sodium, 50 mg/kg). Cardiac blood samples

were collected immediately Ergoloid and transferred to the laboratory for the estimation of TNF-α levels in serum. Sera from the four rat groups were separated and stored at −80°C until thawing at the time of the assay. TNF-α was measured from one sample with highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits (Biosource International, Inc., Camarillo, CA, USA) specific for rat cytokines, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Cytokine assays for each animal and matched controls were run in the same lot. A statistical analysis of oxidant and antioxidant enzymes was carried out using one-way analysis of variance (anova) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) using spss software package version 12·0; results were considered significant at P < 0·05. Significance between histopathological scorings was determined with the χ2 test and Fisher’s exact test. SOD activity, GSH levels, lipid peroxidation levels and MPO enzymatic activity were evaluated in all lung tissues. The results, presented in Table 1, show that SOD activity and GSH levels for the CLP-induced sepsis group were lower than, and MPO and LPO levels were higher than, those of the sham-operated rat group (P < 0·05). Both doses of SLD had preventive effects on the alterations that occurred in the lung tissues after CLP operation.