Tracheal Lung Research Articles

Effects of immunological sensitization on the responses and sensitivity of guinea pig airways to bronchoconstrictors. Modulation by selective inhibition of arachidonic acid metabolism.

The force generated by tracheal spirals and lung parenchymal strips from normal and ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs was measured in vitro, after challenge with histamine, carbachol, leukotriene (LT) C4, LTD4, or a prostaglandin endoperoxide analog (U-44069). The responses and sensitivity of airway tissues to the above agonists were identical in normal and sensitized animals. Treatment of tracheal spirals with indomethacin (8.5 microM), phenidone (185 microM), and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA: 30 microM) reduced resting tension (tone) equally in both normal and sensitized trachea, but did not affect lung parenchymal strips from either group. The responses of tracheal spirals from normal and sensitized animals to low concentrations of histamine, carbachol, LTC4, and LTD4 were reduced or abolished by treatment with the above inhibitors. Responses to higher concentrations of the same agonists were significantly enhanced. In contrast, treatment of normal and sensitized trachea with indomethacin (2.8 and 8.5 microM) did not abolish or reduce the effects of low concentrations of U-44069. However, an enhancement of the effect of high concentrations occurred only on normal tracheal spirals, even though the control tissues from each group responded identically with U-44069 in the absence of any inhibitor. Parenchymal strips increased in sensitivity to histamine, but not carbachol, as a result of time, vehicle, or prior exposure to the drug. Inhibitor treatment did not affect sensitivity or responsiveness of parenchyma to histamine, carbachol, and U-44069, but the contractile activity of LTD4 on both normal and sensitized lung parenchymal strips was reduced by indomethacin, NDGA, and phenidone. We conclude that ovalbumin sensitization does not induce hyperreactivity of guinea pig airways.

Studies on the role of arachidonic acid metabolites in airways contraction induced in vitro by antigen and calcium ionophore A23187.

The effects of inhibitors of the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways of arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism were studied on the contractions of guinea pig tracheal spirals and lung parenchymal strips induced by antigen and calcium ionophore A23187. Inhibition of the cyclooxygenase pathway with indomethacin results in enhancement of antigen- and A23187-induced contraction of trachea which is a result of diversion of AA into the lipoxygenase pathway and inhibition of modulatory cyclooxygenase products. Indomethacin does not enhance parenchymal contractions but partly inhibits contraction induced by a strong stimulus (5.7 microM A23187 or 100 micrograms/ml ovalbumin). Parenchymal contraction is inhibited by agents that block the lipoxygenase pathway of AA metabolism, phenidone and nordihydroguaiaretic acid. These agents inhibit the prolonged phase of antigen-induced tracheal contraction but in some cases enhance the early phase of tracheal contraction induced by antigen or A23187. The results suggest that contraction of parenchyma induced by antigen or A23187 are the result of a bronchoconstrictor lipoxygenase product and only have a cyclooxygenase bronchoconstrictor component following a strong stimulus. In contrast, contraction of trachea also appears to be the result of a bronchoconstrictor lipoxygenase product which may not be identical to that contracting parenchyma, and is modulated by cyclooxygenase products. The results emphasize the importance of comparing small and large airways to further our understanding of asthmatic broncho-constriction.

Influenza infection in the infant mouse.

A nonlethal influenza infection [A/PC/1/73 (H3N2)] was given to infant mice to determine (1) the pathology of tracheal epithelium and lung, (2) the time course of viral shedding from the nose and lung, and (3) the subsequent development of protective immunity during adulthood. Both desquamation of the tracheal epithelium and lung pathology similar to that described in adults after influenza infection were observed in the infant. Animals infected at 3 days of age show virus shedding in 12 of 13 infant mice that persists for at least 2 days longer than in the adult. This longer duration of influenza infection did not result from either malnutrition or from intralitter transmission of virus. Recovery from virus shedding in both the upper and lower airway occurred in the absence of detectable serum antibody in six of seven mice. Infants that recover from infection, when rechallenged during adulthood, manifest complete protection in 11 of 13 mice after nonlethal challenge and no mortality after lethal challenge.

How cranefly larvae breathe

Aeropyles in the spiracles of the larvae of the terrestrial Tipula paludosa and the aquatic but air-breathing Pedicia parvicellula and an unidentified Tipula are illustrated. In T. paludosa these aeropyles are present and open throughout larval life and through the pharate pupal phase. By contrast, the aeropyles of the aquatic T. sacra and T. abdominalis are essentially closed and, in T. sacra at least, appear not to function during the larval stage. Gas exchange must be effected cutaneously in these latter species and, in T. sacra, the spiracular lobes and perhaps the smaller lobes along the body are principal sites of oxygen uptake. However, the larval spiracles of T. sacra do function during the terrestrial pharate pupal phase, when the central scar plug of the spiracle breaks down. Tipula paludosa has a well-developed "tracheal lung" emanating from the spiracular atrium, but this is absent in T. sacra. It is suggested that this lung functions as a tracheal gill when terrestrial habitats become flooded.

Coordination of mucociliary transport in human trachea and intrapulmonary airways.

A wide range of both mucus velocities in the trachea and rates of bronchial mucociliary clearance have been measured in humans. To investigate the coordination of mucociliary transport in the intrapulmonary and extrapulmonary airways, simultaneous measurements of tracheal mucus velocity and lung clearance were made in 22 healthy nonsmoking adults. Each subject inhaled several breaths of an iron oxide aerosol tagged with 99mTc. Measurements of retained activity in the right lung were made for 2.25 h with a pair of 5 x 2 in. NaI (T1) detectors. Tracheal mucociliary transport rates (TMTR) were measured with a probe containing six vertically aligned rectangular NaI (T1) detectors. The mean TMTR was 5.1 +/- 2.9 mm/min. The mean time for the first bolus to be detected on the multidetector probe (large airway transit time, LATT) was 52 +/- 24 min. At this time the percent cleared (Bi) was 24 +/- 15% and the rate of clearance (Bi) was 0.64 +/- 0.35%/min. The mean percent cleared within a 2-h interval (B120) was 51 +/- 22%. The TMTR was closely correlated with Bi and Bi with B120. The TMTR was also correlated to B120, but not closely correlated with LATT. It is suggesting that coordination of mucus transport throughout the airways of the lung represents the nonchallenged state and is responsible for the maintenance of normal bronchial toilet.

Reactivity of isolated trachea, bronchus and lung strip of cats of carbachol, 5-hydroxytryptamine and histamine: evidence for the existence of methysergide-sensitive receptors.

1 The reactivity was investigated of cat isolated tracheal chains, bronchial spirals and lung parenchymal strips to carbachol, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and histamine. 2 Carbachol and 5-HT produced concentration-dependent contractions of all three tissues, responses to the former drug being selectively blocked by atropine and to the latter by methysergide. 3 Histamine failed to elicit a contractile response from the tracheal or bronchial muscle. However, it induced dose-related concentrations of the lung strips, that were selectively blocked by mepyramine. 4 It is concluded that lung parenchymal strips of cats possess mepyramine-sensitive histamine H1-receptors. Receptors for 5-HT, susceptible to methysergide, occur in the tracheobronchial smooth muscles as well as in lung strips of cats.

Contributions of prostaglandin F 2α and thromboxane A 2 to the acute cardiopulmonary changes of pulmonary embolism

The contributions of prostaglandin F 2α (PgF 2α) and thromboxane A 2 (TXA 2) to the acute cardiopulmonary changes of pulmonary embolism (PE) have been evaluated in dogs. Six dogs (Group I) received an LD 50 autologous whole-blood-clot embolus. Twelve dogs (Group II) received 15 mg/kg of imidazole, a selective thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, intravenously 5 min prior to the LD 50 embolus. Six dogs (Group III) received only imidazole intravenously. Pulmonary artery, left atrial, femoral artery, and tracheal pressures and cardiac output were recorded. Tracheal resistance and lung compliance were calculated. PgF 2α was assayed in pre- and postembolization blood samples obtained simultaneously from the left atrium, pulmonary artery, and femoral artery. Characteristic changes of increased pulmonary arterial and airway resistance were similar in Groups I and II and were accompanied by significant increases in PgF 2α. The PgF 2α response to pulmonary embolism was not significantly different in the Group I and II dogs, indicating that while imidazole inhibits thromboxane synthetase, it does not inhibit cyclooxygenase. The Group III dogs demonstrated increases of PgF 2α suggesting that endoperoxide intermediates usually metabolized to TXA 2 may have been utilized for the synthesis of PgF 2α. It is speculated that PgF 2α and TXA 2 produced in response to pulmonary embolism are protective in nature with PgF 2α and TXA 2 helping to maintain arterial pressure and PgF 2α reducing ventilation to nonperfused alveoli during the acute insult.

Relation between Tracheal Size and Lung Emptying on Forced Expiration in Young Non-Smoking Men

Relation between Tracheal Size and Lung Emptying on Forced Expiration in Young Non-Smoking Men

Inhibition by isoproterenol of ovalbumin-induced contraction of tracheal strips and release of histamine from lung isolated from the actively sensitized guinea-pig

Tracheal strips and lung parenchyma were obtained from guinea pigs actively sensitized with egg albumin (ovalbumin). Dose-response curves to ovalbumin for producing tracheal contraction and histamine release from chopped lung were shifted to the right and the maximum response reduced by isoprotenol. Small concentrations of isoproterenol exerted a selective inhibitory effect on ovalbumin-induced tracheal contractions and 100-fold larger concentrations were required to inhibit ovalbumin-induced histamine release. Practocol, a cardioselective beta adrenergic receptor antagonist, bloked the inhibitory effect of isoproterenol on histamine release at a concentration which did not alter the effect of isoproterenol on antigen-induced tracheal contraction. The dose-response curve for ovalbumin in producing tracheal contraction was approx. 2 log units to the left of that in producing histamine release. This difference cannot be explained by the presence of a receptor reserve for histamine. These results suggest that the beta adrenergic receptors mediating inhibition of antigen-induced histamine release and tracheal contraction have some different pharmacological properties. Also, histamine does not appear to be the principal mediator of the anaphylactic tracheal contraction.

Preparation and long-term cultivation of porcine tracheal and lung organ cultures by alternate exposure to gaseous and liquid medium phases.

Conventional methods of organ culture have proved unsatisfactory for mammalian lung because of the rapid collapse of the tissue and the loss of its normal structure. In an effort to circumvent this problem and to provide a means for visualizing the cellular relationships throughout the culture period, respiratory organs consisting of trachea and lungs of fetal or hysterectomy-derived 1- to 4-week-old pigs were embedded in warm 3% Noble agar in phosphate buffer silicone solution and cooled to firmness. By use of a described cutting device, the respective organs were sliced into thin, 0.5- to 1.0-mm tracheal ring or lung explants. These organ sections then were cultured by exposure to alternate gaseous and liquid-medium phases by rotation (12 rev per hr) in sealed Leighton tubes fitted in a described rotator. In short-,erm culture experiments, explants were best maintained in a culture-support medium containing Eagle's minimal essential medium, 20% fetal bovine serum, 0.5% lactalbumin hydrolysate, and other supplements in a pH range of 6.5 to 8.2, and a NaCl concentration of 0.1 M or less. By bright-field and scanning-electron microscopy, tracheal ring and lung explant cultures incubated for 2 months showed intact, uniform and active ciliated epithelial surfaces which compared favorably with those of fresh preparations. The lung cultures showed alveoli that remained expanded, and the cellular integrity of the tissues remained normal in appearance. This new method provides respiratory organs as continuous records with exceptional cellular clarity and readily available for histological processing. The organ cultures lend themselves well to pathogenesis studies in which subtle cellualr changes or a sequence of changes induced in pulmonary tissues are difficult to observe in the host.

Cytopathogenicity of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae in porcine tracheal ring and lung explant organ cultures alone and in combination with monolayer cultures of fetal lung fibroblasts.

Porcine tracheal rings and lung explants alone and in combination with monolayer cultures of porcine lung fibroblasts (PLF) were separately inoculated with virulent strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and incubated at various times. The preparations were observed by bright-field, phase-contrast, and scanning electron microscopy. In PLF cultures, the strains at initial concentrations of 10(1.3) colony-forming units/ml increased within 3 days to 10(6) colony-forming units/ml, showed progressive clustering on the cells, and caused some sloughing. Introduction of a tracheal ring or lung explant into these mycoplasma-infected PLF cultures caused the explant to lose its epithelial ciliary motility. Eventually parts or whole cells of the respective ciliated epithelium were lost. Without infected PLF monolayers, the explants inoculated with M. hyopneumoniae were less susceptible to infection. When uninfected explants were incubated for 18 days or kept in stock for 2 months, they did not show the above changes. With 5 h postinoculation, M. hyopneumoniae cultures became intimately associated with the PLF culture, but when epithelial cell sloughing occurred, the mycoplasmal cells became dependent on the introduction of a fresh PLF monolayer or a tracheal or lung explant for survival.

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of fluorocarbons 11 and 12 in biologic specimens.

Fluorocarbons 11 and 12 were detected and identified in tracheal air, blood, liver, lung, and brain specimens by head-space analysis utilizing a GC-MS. The individual spectrum for each of the fluorocarbons was obtained. The method is easily adaptable to other volatiles.

Effects of nebulized ipritropium bromide and atropine sulfate on tracheal mucous velocity and lung mechanics in anesthetized dogs.

Ipratropium bromide is an anticholinergic agent, which, when administered by inhalation, is an effective bronchodilator in patients with chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma. Since other parasympat

Diaphragmatic activity and lung liquid flow in the unanesthetized fetal sheep.

For some time it has been suggested that breathing movements are made "in utero" and recently measurements of tracheal pressure and lung liquid flow in chronic fetal preparations have led to the hypothesis that rapid changes in these parameters are the result of respiratory muscle activity. To test this hypothesis diaphragmatic electrical activity was measured in seven chronic unanesthetized fetal sheep preparations and correlated with lung liquid flow and tracheal pressure. Diaphragmatic activity led to a fall of tracheal pressure and movement of a small volume of lung liquid into the lung. After the activity ceased, tracheal pressure returned to normal and flow diminished to zero or was directed out of the lung. The breathing pattern was unassociated with the net movement of lung liquid out of the lung. A histogram of the interval between breaths revealed a changing pattern of activity throughout gestation. The pattern was significantly altered after premature delivery of one animal with a respiratory problem. These observations provide evidence that respiratory muscles are active "in utero" and that the pattern of activity changes throughout gestation.

Experimental infection of calves with respiratory syncytial virus

Three bovine isolates and one human isolate of RS virus were given intranasally to gnotobiotic, colostrum-deprived and conventional calves. All isolates produced a biphasic pyrexia associated with a serous nasal discharge. Virus was recovered from nasal secretions 4-10 days after inoculation from nasal, tracheal and bronchial mucosae and lung of animals killed 7-13 days after inoculation. Infection did not produce any macroscopic lesions, but histologically there was a focal degenerative rhinitis and a catarrhal bronchiolitis with the occasional formation of syncytia in bronchioles and alveoli.

Herpes Simplex Virus Pneumonia

A 39-year-old white man with terminal panlobular emphysema underwent left lung allotransplantation. He was treated with azathioprine, steroids, antilymphocyte globulin, and antibiotics. The transplanted lung functioned well, but postoperatively oral ulcerations developed. The left lung became infiltrated and there was clinical deterioration. Herpes simplex virus was cultured from tracheal aspirates and lung biopsy material, and electron microscopic studies revealed intracellular herpesvirus-like particles. Treatment with cytarabine hydrochloride failed to result in clinical improvement and he died on the 26th day after operation.

Action potentials in parasympathetic and sympathetic efferent fibres to the trachea and lungs of dogs and cats.

1. Action potentials were recorded from seventy-four single and twenty-nine small multifibre nerve strands efferent to the trachea and lungs of cats and dogs. From the pathway (vagal or sympathetic), spontaneous activity, conduction velocity and responses to various interventions the efferent fibres were classified in the following way.2. Group I, vagal. These had a mean conduction velocity of 9.7 m/sec, and had a respiratory but seldom a cardiac rhythm. Their discharge was inhibited during hypertension caused by injections of adrenaline and during inflation of the lungs, but was increased during tracheal occlusion, stimulation of peripheral chemoreceptors and irritation of the larynx. The fibres are thought to be constrictor to the airways.3. Group II, sympathetic. These had a mean conduction velocity of 0.85 m/sec and usually had inspiratory and cardiac rhythms. Their discharge usually responded qualitatively as that of group I fibres to the various interventions, but with clear quantitative differences. They are divided into three subgroups on the basis of their responses to injections of adrenaline and to asphyxial stimuli.4. Group III, vagal and sympathetic. These had a mean conduction velocity of 9.0 m/sec, very slow discharge rates and often an expiratory and cardiac modulation. They were activated during hypertension due to adrenaline and often by tracheal occlusion, chemoreceptor stimulation, laryngeal irritation and lung inflation. Their motor action is unknown.5. Group IV, vagal and sympathetic. These had conspicuous cardiac rhythms resembling those of vascular baroreceptors, but their discharge could not be correlated with arterial blood pressure. Their mean conduction velocity was 6.6 m/sec. Some were active after combined vagotomy and sympathectomy. Together with some unclassified fibres, those of group IV are thought to be aberrant afferent nerves or collateral afferent branches, and possibly to subserve local reflexes.6. The results are discussed in relation to nervous control of effector tissues in the airways and autonomic nervous control generally.

Fetal lamb amniotic fluid: Relationship of lipid composition to surface tension

The amniotic fluid from 22 lambs delivered near term was used for surface tensionstudies and analysis of the major lipid fractions. Amniotic fluid did not possess “low” surface tension values as did fetal tracheal fluid and lung extracts. The total lipid composition was one fifth to one tenth that found in fetal tracheal fluid, and there was a higher proportion of neutral lipids to phospholipids. The major phospholipids contained in the amniotic fluid were: lecithin, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylethanolamine, present in amounts less than one fifteenth that in tracheal fluid. The phospholipid fraction isolated from the amniotic fluid possessed “low” surface tension and had a hysteresis loop similar to that of tracheal fluid. These results suggest that the high surface tension of amniotic fluid may be due to quantities of active phospholipids at the air-liquid interface insufficient to form a monomolecular film. The studies also suggest that inspiration of amniotic fluid into the fetal lung would be disadvantageous for normal respiration.

On the Main Branches of the Pulmonary Artery in Some Viperidae

In all snakes, the Boidae and Xenopeltidae excepted, only the right lung is well developed, while the left lung is rudimentary or absent (BUTLER, 1895). The right lung consists of an anterior alveolar part that is strongly vascularized, and of a posterior smooth-walled air-sac that is anangious. Between these two parts a transitional zone may be present, in which the wall of the lung shows a faint reticulate pattern, and which receives some very fine branches from the pulmonary vessels. In a number of snakes, among which the Viperidae, the situation becomes more complicated. In these snakes the membrane that connects the dorsal ends of the incomplete tracheal cartilages has become greatly expanded, and this dorsal wall has developed an alveolar structure. COPE (1894, p. 218) very aptly has named this the tracheal lung. When the tracheal lung has very strongly developed, it sometimes merges gradually into the right lung. In species with a rudimentary left lung, its opening into the trachea may be considered to mark the end of the trachea, and consequently also the beginning of the right lung. In other species a slight change in the structure of the alveoles may mark the boundary, but in a number of species it becomes a more or less arbitrary procedure to draw a boundary between the tracheal lung and the right lung. For the purpose of the present note it suffices, however, to consider as right lung that part of the respiratory tract that lies posterior to the middle of the heart. The development of the tracheal lung, and the relative size of the alveolar part of the right lung and of the air-sac vary according to genera and species.

FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION AND RATE OF REMOVAL OF BACTERIA FROM THE TRACHEAL TREE AND LUNGS1

Journal Article FACTORS AFFECTING RETENTION AND RATE OF REMOVAL OF BACTERIA FROM THE TRACHEAL TREE AND LUNGS Get access LEWIS J. CRALLEY LEWIS J. CRALLEY Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 36, Issue 3, November 1942, Pages 303–310, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a118830 Published: 01 November 1942 Article history Received: 20 May 1942 Published: 01 November 1942