| Objective To evaluate the acute toxicity of oral and aerosol administration of total ginsenoside (TG) in mice, and to evaluate its therapeutic effect on acute lung injury (ALI) and pulmonary fibrosis (PF) in mice. Methods ICR male and female mice were atomized and orally administered with the maximum dose of TG, respectively. After 14 days, the acute toxicity of TG was evaluated by body weight, blood routine, serum biochemistry, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) analysis, organ index and hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining. Bleomycin (BLM) -induced ALI and PF mouse models were established. The ALI model was established on the 6th day after modeling, and the PF model was established on the 28 th day. The therapeutic effects of TG on ALI and PF were evaluated by BALF analysis, lung coefficient, hydroxyproline (HYP) content, H&E and Masson staining. Results In the acute toxicity experiment, compared with the control group, there was no significant difference in body weight, organ index, serum biochemistry and BALF analysis between the atomized TG group and the oral TG group. The number of peripheral blood lymphocytes in the oral TG male group decreased, and the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes in the oral TG female group increased. There was no significant abnormality in histopathology. In the pharmacodynamic experiment, atomized TG has a good therapeutic effect on BLM-induced ALI and PF mice. It can effectively reduce the number of inflammatory cells in BALF, reduce lung coefficient and HYP content, and reduce inflammatory infiltration and fiber deposition in lung tissue. Under the same dose conditions, the efficacy of atomized TG is significantly better than that of oral TG. Conclusion Inhaled TG had no obvious toxic and side effects, and the inhaled administration route has a significant effect on BLM-induced ALI and PF. |
