ALDH2 alleviates ventilator-associated lung injury in rats by regulating the MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) in ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Methods Healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:①Control Group(C group), ②High tidal volume group (HV group), ③ALDH2 agonist intervention group (HV + Alda-1 group), and④phosphorylated ERK (p-ERK) activation intervention group (HV + Alda-1 + Ro67-7476 group). Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) staining, quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR), and Western Blot (WB) were employed to detect lung tissue pathology, inflammatory factors, autophagy, and pathway-related proteins. Result The results showed that in the HV Group, the expression of ALDH2 was downregulated, while the degree of lung injury, inflammatory response, autophagy level, and the expression of phosphorylated ERK1/2 protein were all significantly increased (P < 0.05).In the HV + Alda-1 Group, the aforementioned indicators were significantly improved (P < 0.05).However,The protective effect of the Alda-1 was partially reversed by Ro67-7476 (P < 0.05). Conclusion ALDH2 can alleviate VILI in rats by inhibiting the MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway, and it may serve as a potential target for clinical treatment of VILI.