Bronchoalveolar Lavage Lactate Dehydrogenase Research Articles

Aerosol characterization and pulmonary responses in rats after short-term inhalation of fumes generated during resistance spot welding of galvanized steel.

Resistance spot welding is a common process to join metals in the automotive industry. Adhesives are often used as sealers to seams of metals that are joined. Anti-spatter compounds sometimes are sprayed onto metals to be welded to improve the weldability. Spot welding produces complex aerosols composed of metal and volatile compounds (VOCs) which can cause lung disease in workers. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=12/treatment group) were exposed by inhalation to 25mg/m3 of aerosol for 4h/day×8days during spot welding of galvanized zinc (Zn)-coated steel in the presence or absence of a glue or anti-spatter spray. Controls were exposed to filtered air. Particle size distribution and chemical composition of the generated aerosol were determined. At 1 and 7days after exposure, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed to assess lung toxicity. The generated particles mostly were in the submicron size range with a significant number of nanometer-sized particles formed. The primary metals present in the fumes were Fe (72.5%) and Zn (26.3%). The addition of the anti-spatter spray and glue did affect particle size distribution when spot welding galvanized steel, whereas they had no effect on metal composition. Multiple VOCs (e.g., methyl methacrylate, acetaldehyde, ethanol, acetone, benzene, xylene) were identified when spot welding using either the glue or the anti-spatter spray that were not present when welding alone. Markers of lung injury (BAL lactate dehydrogenase) and inflammation (total BAL cells/neutrophils and cytokines/chemokines) were significantly elevated compared to controls 1day after exposure to the spot welding fumes. The elevated pulmonary response was transient as lung toxicity mostly returned to control values by 7days. The VOCs or the concentrations that they were generated during the animal exposures had no measurable effect on the pulmonary responses. Inhalation of galvanized spot welding fumes caused acute lung toxicity most likely due to the short-term exposure of particles that contain Zn.

Long-term toxicity of naturally occurring asbestos in male Fischer 344 rats

ABSTRACTNaturally occurring asbestos (NOA) fibers are found in geologic deposits that may be disturbed by mining, earthworks, or natural processes, resulting in adverse health risks to exposed individuals. The toxicities of Libby amphibole and NOA samples including Sumas Mountain chrysotile (SM), El Dorado tremolite (ED), and Ontario ferroactinolite cleavage fragments (ON) were compared in male Fischer 344 (F344) rats 15 mo after exposure. Rat-respirable fractions of LA and SM displayed greater mean lengths and aspect ratios than ED and ON. After a single intratracheal (IT) instillation (0.5 or 1.5 mg/rat), persistent changes in ventilatory parameters and a significant increase in lung resistance at baseline and after methacholine aerosol dosing were found only in rats exposed to 1.5 mg SM. High-dose ED significantly elevated bronchoalveolar lavage lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and protein levels, while high-dose SM increased γ-glutamyl transferase and LDH activities. A moderate degree of lung interstitial fibrosis after exposure to 1.5 mg SM persisted 15 mo after exposure, unchanged from previous findings at 3 mo. LA induced mild fibrosis, while ED and ON produced minimal and no apparent fibrosis, respectively. Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma was observed 15 mo after exposure to LA or ED. Data demonstrated that SM, given by bolus IT dosing on an equivalent mass basis, induced greater pulmonary function deficits, airway hyperresponsiveness, and interstitial fibrosis than other NOA, although unlike LA and ED, no apparent evidence for carcinogenicity was found. All NOA samples except ON cleavage fragments produced some degree of long-term toxicity.

Age-Related Responses in Rats to Concentrated Urban Air Particles (CAPs)

Epidemiological studies have reported that elderly individuals have a higher risk of detrimental responses following exposure to elevated levels of ambient particulate matter. To investigate this finding in a toxicological model, aged Fisher rats were exposed for 3 days to concentrated urban air particles (CAPs) from Boston. The hypothesis tested was that older animals would exhibit more severe pulmonary inflammation and hematological changes following the CAPs exposure when compared to young, normal animals. Aged Fisher rats (> 17 mo) and juvenile Fisher rats (4–6 wk) were maintained in a virus-antigen free facility for 3 mo prior to exposure. Following this period, aged and young rats were exposed to CAPs or sham-exposed to filtered air for 5 h/day (or 3 consecutive days (10 rats/group X 4 groups total = 40 rats). Daily integrated CAPs concentrations were 80, 170, and 50 μ/m3 on day 1, 2, and 3, respectively. None of the animals died throughout the duration of exposure. Twenty-four hours following the last day of exposure, blood was collected by cardiac puncture, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed. Young rats had significantly higher total BAL cell counts compared to old rats, as well as a significant increase in BAL polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) following CAPs exposure compared to sham. Old rats also exhibited a small, but significant, increase in BAL PMN following exposure to CAPs compared to sham. There were no CAPs-related significant changes in aged animals in total BAL cell counts, BAL lactate dehydrogenase, total white blood cell (WBC) counts, or the percent of WBC PMN, lymphocytes, and monocytes. When comparing aged versus young (CAPs-or filtered air-exposed) animals, advanced age was associated with significant decrements in the total BAL cell counts, total WBC counts, percent of blood lymphocytes, and blood hemoglobin; a significant increase in the percent of blood PMN was also observed. The above results suggest: 1I) Young Fisher rats may represent a sensitive model for the examination of pulmonary inflammatory responses following CAPs exposure, and (2) the lack of a pulmonary inflammatory response in the aged rats, despite the presence of a higher percentage of circulating neutrophils, may reflect decreased sensitivity to inhaled particles.

N-acetylcysteine does not protect against type II cell injury after prolonged exposure to hyperoxia in rats.

Although the antioxidant properties of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in vitro are widely accepted, the efficacy of NAC in the prevention of O2 toxicity in vivo is poorly documented. The aim of our study was to investigate the presumed protective effect of NAC on hyperoxic lung injury, focusing on gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) activity and glutathione (GSH) levels in lung tissue, epithelial lining fluid (ELF), and isolated rat type II cells immediately after their isolation and 48 h later when kept in culture in normoxia. Thirty-four male Wistar rats were divided in three groups (n = 10-14) and were exposed to air or to 60 or 85% O2 for 7 days. One-half of the rats in each group received 200 mg/kg NAC intraperitoneally one time per day from 3 days before exposure until the end of the experiment, and the other one-half received the vehicle. In the 85% O2-exposed animals, NAC led to more respiratory distress and weight loss. NAC did not prevent the rise in bronchoalveolar lavage lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase, but it did prevent the rise in calculated ELF volume. NAC decreased GSH levels (1.4-fold) and gamma-GT activity (1.8-fold) in the air-exposed type II cells. In the 60% O2-exposed group, no effects of NAC were seen (except for a decrease in gamma-GT mRNA expression), but, in the 85% O2-exposed group, NAC gave rise to higher GSH (2.6-fold) and higher gamma-GT activity (2.9-fold) in the ELF and lower GSH (6.9-fold) and higher gamma-GT activity (3.6-fold) in the type II cells. Even in culture, GSH levels remained 1.5-fold lower than in the cells from the air-exposed animals and 2-fold lower than in the cells from the 85% O2-exposed animals. There was increased DNA damage (as assessed by thymidine incorporation) and apoptosis after hyperoxia, especially after 60% O2, and this effect was amplified after NAC treatment. Although protective at the endothelial side, NAC treatment led to adverse effects at the epithelial side, despite, or probably because of, restoration of the ELF GSH levels in the presence of high O2 levels. Because NAC is rapidly metabolized to cysteine, it is plausible that the effects of NAC are manifested through the toxic effects of cysteine.

Lung injury after hepatoenteric ischemia-reperfusion: role of xanthine oxidase.

Oxidant stress plays a major role in the pathophysiologic processes associated with ischemia-reperfusion injury. Xanthine oxidase (XO) is often implicated as a significant source of oxidants and increases in the circulation after hepatoenteric ischemia-reperfusion. We hypothesized that pulmonary injury is associated with hepatic ischemia-reperfusion resulting from descending thoracic aorta occlusion-reperfusion (AoOR). We also proposed that this remote pulmonary injury is attenuated through inactivation of circulating and tissue XO by tungstate, implicating an XO-dependent mechanism. Aortic occlusion was established in rabbits (standard or tungstate diet) for 40 min by 2 h reperfusion. Sham operated rabbits (standard or tungstate diet) served as controls. Hepatic reperfusion injury, as manifested by release of the hepatocellular enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT), was markedly increased after AoOR. Suprarenal-infrahepatic occlusion failed to increase ALT release. Tungstate pretreatment significantly (p < 0.05) reduced XO activity and ameliorated liver and intestinal injury (p < 0.05). Lung injury, manifested by increased bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) protein concentration, BAL lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and increased lung edema was significantly associated with liver injury (p < 0.05) and circulating XO activity (p < 0.001). XO inactivation significantly decreased BAL protein concentration, BAL LDH activity, and lung edema (p < 0.05). We conclude that remote pulmonary injury is significantly influenced by the extent of liver injury and circulating XO activity.

Lung damage induced by butylated hydroxytoluene in mice. Biochemical, cellular, and morphologic characterization.

This study was designed to characterize the biochemical, cellular, and morphologic events produced in mice by butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and to relate these events to changes in extracellular angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity. On Day 1 after the administration of BHT, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) ACE activity increased 4-fold (p less than 0.001), its specific activity relative to BAL protein increased 3-fold (p less than 0.001), and both type 1 cell damage and endothelial cell damage were detected by electron microscopy. The early increase in BAL ACE activity preceded changes in plasma ACE levels, BAL cell number, protein, lactate, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in both plasma and BAL, and the ACE content of alveolar macrophages. On Day 2, BAL ACE activity increased 9-fold, BAL protein increased 4-fold (p less than 0.001), BAL LDH activity increased 34% (p less than 0.05), and the BAL cell count doubled (p less than 0.01). Changes in each animal's appearance, body weight, wet and dry lung weights, and plasma ACE levels occurred between Days 3 and 5. The BAL differential cell count, which consisted of greater than 95% macrophages in uninjured mice, did not change until Day 5 when there was a small increase in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). On Day 7, the number of PMN peaked, and some of the other measures of lung injury began returning toward normal. These results indicate that BAL ACE activity is a sensitive, early marker of BHT-induced lung injury, which appears to reflect damage to the cells of the alveolar-capillary barrier. In addition, PMN do not appear to play a major role in this model of lung injury. Because of its effects on angiotensin, bradykinin, and prostaglandins, the early release of ACE from damaged cells may modulate the subsequent injury.