Fig. 5

Expression of biologic markers associated with lung and kidney damage. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis of biologic markers associated with lung inflammation (interleukin [IL]-6) (a), vascular integrity (VE-CAD) (b), and fibrosis (procollagen [PC]-III) (c), as well with renal injury (kidney injury molecule [KIM-1]) (d) and regeneration (nephronectin, NPNT) (e). Boxes show the interquartile range (25th–75th percentile), while whiskers encompass the range (minimum-maximum) and horizontal lines represent the median in 6 animals/group. Relative gene expression was calculated as a ratio of average expression of each gene to the reference gene (36B4) and expressed as fold change relative to non-ventilated animals (NV) and no fluid. Values are medians and interquartile ranges of 6 rats in each group. Comparisons among all groups were done by the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s test (p < 0.05)