In Vivo Effects of Neostigmine and Physostigmine on Neutrophil Functions and Evaluation of Acetylcholinesterase and Butyrylcholinesterase as Inflammatory Markers during Experimental Sepsis in Rats

Figure 5

(a, b, and c) Histopathologic images of rat lungs. CLP induced an increase in organ injury in all examined tissues (median histological injury score in the control group vs. the sham group , , Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Bonferroni’s pairwise comparison test). The median histological score of neostigmine-treated or physostigmine-treated animals was not significantly different compared to the control group animals ( vs. the control group). We present examples of histopathologic images of rat lungs, since the differences between the groups are most apparent compared to other examined tissues: (a) Rat lung of the sham group with little to no blood stasis and small vessel lumina. No signs of perivascular or interstitial inflammation, lung injury score 1. (b) Rat lung of the control group with marked alveolar hemorrhage, congestion, and dilated, hyperemic blood vessels. PMN infiltrates lead to a strong perivascular and interstitial inflammation, lung injury score 7. (c) Rat lung of an animal treated with physostigmine with intra-alveolar edema and congestion. Only mild PMN infiltrates and little alveolar hemorrhage, lung injury score 4.

(a) Rat lung sham group

(b) Rat lung control group

(c) Rat lung treatment group