ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effect of atomized inhalation of nano-luteolin preparation on acute lung injury caused by extracorporeal circulation, and to explore the anti-inflammatory mechanism of luteolin, so as to provide study basis for clinical application.MethodsThirty male SD rats aged 5-6 weeks and weighting 160-190 g, were randomly divided into a preoperative baseline (BL) group, arteriovenous partial diversion (ECC) group, luteolin atomization pretreatment for 1 h group, 2 h group, and 3 h group by random number method, with 6 rats in each group. In the BL group, lung tissue samples were collected directly without any treatment. The ECC group received mechanical ventilation, and the whole body was heparinized after the jugular arteriovenous intubation. The flow was transferred for 30 minutes, followed by observation for 60 minutes, then lung tissue samples were collected. Subjects in the 1 h, 2 h and 3 h groups were placed in a small animal atomizer 1 h, 2 h and 3 h before flow transfer respectively, and the subsequent operation was the same as that in the ECC group. The inflammatory level of lung tissue was detected to evaluate the degree of pathological injury of lung tissue. Western blotting (WB) was used to detect the contents of p65, IKKα, IKKβ and IKKγ in the cytoplasm of lung tissue samples of each group.ResultsCompared with the ECC group, the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in lung tissues and the degree of pathological injury in the 1 h, 2 h and 3 h groups decreased, and the difference between the 3 h group and the ECC group was statistically different (P<0.05). WB results showed that compared with the ECC group, the levels of p65 in lung tissue of the 1 h, 2 h and 3 h groups decreased; the levels of IKKβ in the lung tissue increased in the 1 h, 2 h and 3 h groups, and the difference of the 3 h group was statistically different from the ECC group (P<0.05).ConclusionLuteolin has a protective effect on acute lung injury induced by ECC, and atomization 3 h in advance has the best protective effect on lung. The mechanism plays a protective role in ECC-induced acute lung injury, may be through inhibition of IKKβ phosphorylation, thereby inhibiting the classical NF-κB signaling pathway.