Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of arginine vasopressin (AVP) on alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in acute lung
injury (ALI). Methods Forty-eight healthy adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group, ALI model
group and AVP treatment group. The pathological changes in the lungs, lung water content, alveolar permeability and AFC
were observed, and the expressions of alveolar epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and Na+, K+-ATPase were measured. Results
Compared with those in the model group, the rats treated with AVP showed significantly decreased alveolar permeability
(0.27±0.15 vs 0.59±0.19) and lung water content (5.01±1.59 vs 8.67±1.79) (P<0.05) and increased AFC (23.56±4.51 vs 8.28±3.57) and
of α-ENaC expressions (1.296+0.322 vs 0.349±0.141) and α1-Na+ , K+-ATPase (1.421±0.389 vs 0.338±0.186) (P<0.05). Conclusion
AVP can promote AFC in with ALI possibly by up-regulation of α-ENaC, α1-Na+, and K+-ATPase.