Morphological assessment of sulfur mustard-induced tracheal injury in rats

Abstract

Objective To establish an animal model for rat respiratory tract injury due to sulfur mustard （SM）,and observe the morphologic changes of tracheal tissues and epithelial cells in SM-induced injury. Methods Male SD rats （ n =72） were randomly divided into three groups （SM group,propylene glycol group,and normal group）. The rats in the SM （2 mg/kg） group were injected intratracheally with diluted SM （0.1 ml）. Histomorphologic and cytomorphogic changes of the specimen were observed under light and electron microscopy. Results In the SM group,histomorphologic changes included shed tracheal epithelial cells,focal ulcer formation, deranged cilia, increased glands in the lamia propria mucosae, and inflammatory cells invading the submucosa. The cytomorphologic changes were as follows： the cellular membranes lacking,medullary changes in the mitochondria with difficult to discern mitochondrial cristae appeared in goblet cells,and difficult to discern karyotheca, karyopyknosis,and margination of the nuclear chromatin in cilia, basal cells, fibroblasts. The structure of tracheal tissue and epithelial cells of the propylene glycol group was the same as the control group. Conclusions SM （2 mg/kg） can cause acute injury of tissues and multi-epithelial cells of the rat trachea. The degree of injury is positively correlated to the duration of time. SM mainly affects the cellular membranes and organdies of goblet cells, as well as nuclear chromatin of cilia, basal cells,and fibroblasts. Key words: Sulfur mustard ; Rat ; Tracheal injury ; Histomorphology ; Cytomorphology