alpha-naphthyl-thiourea and Pulmonary-Edema

This article is a review of the current literature concerning the possible involvement of oxygen radicals in the development of pulmonary edema. The article focuses on changes in capillary endothelium caused by many different imposed experimental conditions that may be related to the generation of O2, OH. or H2O2. Data from our laboratory show that scavengers such as superoxide dismutase, dimethylsulfoxide, and catalase as well as leukocyte depletion provide partial protection to the very caustic alpha-naphthylthiourea. The literature concerning the possible involvement of leukocyte or tissue generation of oxygen radicals in the various forms of pulmonary edema is combined into a simple model that may explain why pathologic tissues show variable responses to compounds that should either scavenge the oxygen radicals or prevent leukocyte involvement.

Topics: Capillary Permeability; Catalase; Dimethyl Sulfoxide; Free Radicals; Humans; Leukocyte Count; Models, Biological; Oxygen; Pulmonary Edema; Superoxide Dismutase; Thiourea

We aimed to observe the possible effects of melatonin (MLT) deprivation (pinealectomy) and exogenous MLT administration on pulmonary edema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), a toxic chemical agent, in rats. Seventy animals were assigned to seven groups: control, sham pinealectomy (PINX), PINX, ANTU (10 mg/kg intraperitoneal on day 30), ANTU + MLT (10 mg/kg/day i.p. for 30 days), ANTU + PINX, and ANTU + PINX + MLT.In this study, pleural effusion (PE) formation, lung weight/body weight (LW/BW) and PE/BW ratios (fluid accumulation and weight values in the lungs) increase detected. Pre-ANTU MLT administration led to significant decreases in PE, LW/BW, and PE/BW levels. The inhibited glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and high malondialdehyde (MDA) levels that ANTU increase lipid peroxidation in the study. MLT administration eliminated oxidative stress by reducing MDA and ameliorating GSH and SOD levels.Pre-ANTU MLT administration led to a significant decrease in interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels in the lung when compared to the ANTU group without MLT administration. Post-pinealectomy ANTU administration significantly increased IL-1β and TNF-α levels when compared to ANTU and MLT administration without pinealectomy. Diffused inflammatory cell infiltration, interstitial pulmonary edema, and histopathological congestion were observed after the administration of ANTU. Severity of the damage was elevated in the ANTU + PINX group. MLT treatment regressed pulmonary effusion and edema and improves lung structure. In brief, the findings suggested that MLT inhibited proinflammatory mediators and could serve as a therapeutic agent to prevent inflammatory disorders.

Topics: Animals; Melatonin; Pinealectomy; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), a rodenticide induces lung toxicity. Chrysin a flavonoid possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antihypertensive potential. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of chrysin against ANTU-induced pulmonary edema (PE) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in laboratory rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were used to induce PE (ANTU, 10 mg/kg, ip) and PAH (ANTU, 5 mg/kg, ip, 4 weeks). Animals were treated with chrysin (10, 20, and 40 mg/kg) and various biochemical, molecular, and histological parameters were evaluated. Acute administration of ANTU induces PE revealed by significant (P < 0.05) increase in relative lung weight, pleural effusion volume, lung edema, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cell counts, total protein, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), whereas pretreatment with chrysin (20 and 40 mg/kg, ip) significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated these ANTU-induced biochemical and histological alterations. Repeated administration of ANTU caused induction of PAH evaluated by significant (P < 0.05) alterations in electrocardiographic, hemodynamic changes, and left ventricular function, whereas chrysin (20 and 40 mg/kg, p.o.) treatment significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated these alterations. ANTU-induced hematological and serum biochemical (aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, LDH, and creatinine kinase MB) alterations were significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited by chrysin. It also significantly (P < 0.05) decreased elevated levels of oxido-nitrosative stress in the right ventricle (RV) and lung. Chrysin significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated downregulated endothelial nitric oxide synthase and upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor messenger RNA and protein expressions both in the RV and pulmonary artery. Chrysin inhibited ANTU-induced PE and PAH via modulation of inflammatory responses (5-HT, LDH, and GGT), oxido-nitrosative stress, and VEGF and eNOs levels.

Topics: Animals; Flavonoids; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Lung; Male; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III; Pulmonary Artery; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Thiourea; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

We assessed the effects of dexmedetomidine in a rat model of α-naphthylthiourea (ANTU)-induced acute lung injury.. Forty Wistar Albino male rats weighing 200-240 g were divided into 5 groups (n = 8 each), including a control group. Thus, there were one ANTU group and three dexmedetomidine groups (10-, 50-, and 100-μg/kg treatment groups), plus a control group. The control group provided the normal base values. The rats in the ANTU group were given 10 mg/kg of ANTU intraperitoneally and the three treatment groups received 10, 50, or 100 μg/kg of dexmedetomidine intraperitoneally 30 min before ANTU application. The rat body weight (BW), pleural effusion (PE), and lung weight (LW) of each group were measured 4 h after ANTU administration. The histopathologic changes were evaluated using hematoxylin-eosin staining.. The mean PE, LW, LW/BW, and PE/BW measurements in the ANTU group were significantly greater than in the control groups and all dexmedetomidine treatment groups (P < 0.05). There were also significant decreases in the mean PE, LW, LW/BW and PE/BW values in the dexmedetomidine 50-μg/kg group compared with those in the ANTU group (P < 0.01). The inflammation, hemorrhage, and edema scores in the ANTU group were significantly greater than those in the control or dexmedetomidine 50-μg/kg group (P < 0.01).. Dexmedetomidine treatment has demonstrated a potential benefit by preventing ANTU-induced acute lung injury in an experimental rat model. Dexmedetomidine could have a potential protective effect on acute lung injury in intensive care patients.

Topics: Acute Lung Injury; Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Agonists; Animals; Dexmedetomidine; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Interactions; Lung; Male; Pleural Effusion; Pneumonia; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Rodenticides; Thiourea

We have previously demonstrated that adenosine plus homocysteine enhanced endothelial basal barrier function and protected against agonist-induced barrier dysfunction in vitro through attenuation of RhoA activation by inhibition of isoprenylcysteine-O-carboxyl methyltransferase. In the current study, we tested the effect of elevated adenosine on pulmonary endothelial barrier function in vitro and in vivo. We noted that adenosine alone dose dependently enhanced endothelial barrier function. While adenosine receptor A(1) or A(3) antagonists were ineffective, an adenosine transporter inhibitor, NBTI, or a combination of DPMX and MRS1754, antagonists for adenosine receptors A(2A) and A(2B), respectively, partially attenuated the barrier-enhancing effect of adenosine. Similarly, inhibition of both A(2A) and A(2B) receptors with siRNA also blunted the effect of adenosine on barrier function. Interestingly, inhibition of both transporters and A(2A)/A(2B) receptors completely abolished adenosine-induced endothelial barrier enhancement. The adenosine receptor A(2A) and A(2B) agonist, NECA, also significantly enhanced endothelial barrier function. These data suggest that both adenosine transporters and A(2A) and A(2B) receptors are necessary for exerting maximal effect of adenosine on barrier enhancement. We also found that adenosine enhanced Rac1 GTPase activity and overexpression of dominant negative Rac1 attenuated adenosine-induced increases in focal adhesion complexes. We further demonstrated that elevation of cellular adenosine by inhibition of adenosine deaminase with Pentostatin significantly enhanced endothelial basal barrier function, an effect that was also associated with enhanced Rac1 GTPase activity and with increased focal adhesion complexes and adherens junctions. Finally, using a non-inflammatory acute lung injury (ALI) model induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea, we found that administration of Pentostatin, which elevated lung adenosine level by 10-fold, not only attenuated the development of edema before ALI but also partially reversed edema after ALI. The data suggest that adenosine deaminase inhibition may be useful in treatment of pulmonary edema in settings of ALI.

Topics: Acute Lung Injury; Adenosine; Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors; Adherens Junctions; Animals; Cattle; Endothelium; Endothelium, Vascular; Focal Adhesions; Lung; Male; Nucleoside Transport Proteins; Pentostatin; Pulmonary Edema; rac1 GTP-Binding Protein; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptor, Adenosine A2A; Receptor, Adenosine A2B; Receptors, Adenosine A2; Thiourea

This study was designed to investigate the possible participation of morphine in pulmonary oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), which is a well-known noxious chemical agent in the lung. Injection of ANTU (15 mg/kg i.p.) produced pulmonary oedema as indicated by an increase in lung weight/body weight ratio and pleural effusion reaching a maximum within 4 h in rat. Administration of morphine prior to ANTU significantly inhibited to pulmonary oedema with a dose-dependent manner. The protective effect of morphine is prevented by peripheral opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone methiodide. ANTU-treated rats were shown positive by inducible nitric oxide synthase immunohistochemical staining. There was no staining in the control group. On the other hand, the degree of staining was markedly reduced in tissue sections by morphine. These results suggest that previous administration of subcutaneous morphine has preventive effect on ANTU-induced pulmonary inflammatory reaction and its effect mediated via peripheral opioid receptors. Application of naloxone with ANTU has no effect on the lung parameters indicating that endogenous opioids do not modulate ANTU-induced damage.

Topics: Animals; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Immunohistochemistry; Lung; Male; Morphine; Naloxone; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; Pulmonary Edema; Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; Rats; Thiourea

Oxidation of the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) results in the production of modified LDLs. Oxidation of LDL cholesterol plays a role on the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction. This study was designed to investigate the possible participation of the oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein in the lung edema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), which is a well-known noxious chemical agent on the lung endothelium. When ANTU injected intraperitoneally into rats (15 mg kg(-1)), it produced lung edema as indicated by an increase in lung weight/body weight (LW/BW) ratio and pleural effusion (PE) reaching a maximum within 4 h. A significant lung edema was observed 4 h after intraperitoneally injection of alpha-naphthylthiourea when compared with olive oil-injected control rats. On microscopic examination of alpha-naphthylthiourea-treated rats were shown to have severe lung injury, while no change was observed in olive oil-treated control rats. While there were no staining in control lungs, positive oxidized low-density lipoproteins immune-fluorescent staining were observed in lung edema group. Our study showed that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) accumulated in ANTU-induced lung damage. This is the first study in which accumulation of oxLDL molecules in the intact lung tissue were shown by fluorescent immune-staining method in experimental lung edema. The potential role of oxLDL in this pathology are still under investigation.

Topics: Animals; Female; Lipoproteins, LDL; Lung; Male; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

This study was designed to investigate the possible participation of urethane, pentobarbital sodium and thiopental sodium anaesthesia in the lung oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), which is a well known noxious chemical agent in the lung. ANTU when injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) into rats (10 mg x kg (-1) i.p.) produced lung oedema as indicated by an increase in lung weight/body weight (LW/BW) ratio and pleural effusion (PE) reaching a maximum within 4 h. Administration of urethane prior to ANTU, at doses of 100 and 200mg(100g)(-1), elicited a significant and dose-dependent inhibition in LW/BW ratio and PE. Thiopental sodium at doses of 25, 50 mg x kg (-1), also produced a significant and dose-dependent inhibition of both parameters. Prior i.p. injection of pentobarbital sodium at a dose of 40 mg x kg (-1) elicited a significant inhibition in both parameters. These results suggest that i.p. urethane, thiopental sodium and pentobarbital sodium pretreatment have a prophylactic effect on ANTU-induced lung injury in rats. The possible role of the anaesthetics in lung oedema induced by ANTU and the possible underlying mechanisms are discussed.

Topics: Animals; Hypnotics and Sedatives; Male; Organ Size; Pentobarbital; Pleural Effusion; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiopental; Thiourea; Urethane

Neutrophil-derived oxygen free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. Fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP) has been shown to inhibit oxygen free radicals production by activated neutrophils. Thus, we investigated whether FDP would attenuate formation of pulmonary edema in anesthetized dogs injected with alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU). Hemodynamic studies involved measurements of left ventricular systolic and end-diasystolic pressures (LVSP and LVEDP), pulmonary artery pressure (PaP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac output (CO). Mean wet weight to dry weight ratios of lung tissue samples were calculated. Following baseline measurements, dogs were injected intravenously (IV) with ANTU 5 mg / kg (n = 16) and 10 mg / kg (n = 8) and half of the dogs were randomly selected to receive 75 mg / kg FDP (10%) and subsequent infusion of 7 mg / kg / min. The rest were given 0.9% NaCl in the same manner. Four hours after ANTU administration, the animals were euthanatized. Except for decline in the CO (nonsignificant), no significant changes in systemic hemodynamics within and between the groups were noted. In the FDP group, PaP and pulmonary arteriolar resistance (PaR) remained unchanged. In the saline group, PaP increased from 12.5 +/- 2.44 to 21.8 +/- 3.14 mm Hg (P < .001) and PaR from 166 +/- 29 to 468 +/- 74 dynes. cm / sec(5) (P < .005). During the study LVDEP, PaO(2), PaCO(2), and hematocrit did not change significantly within and between the groups. The lungs mean wet weight to dry weight ratios for the sham-operated dogs were 4.20 +/- 0.41, for the FDP group 4.32 +/- 0.59 and 6.22 +/- 1.37 for the saline group (P < .0005). These data indicate that FDP protected the lung from ANTU-induced injury.

Topics: Animals; Dogs; Drug Administration Schedule; Fructosediphosphates; Infusions, Intravenous; Injections, Intravenous; Pulmonary Edema; Rodenticides; Thiourea

The hypothesis that the changes in the respiratory system pressure- volume (PV) curve during pulmonary edema mainly reflect distal airway obstruction was investigated in rats. Normal rats had a well-defined upper inflection point (UIP) at low airway pressure. Airway occlusion by liquid instillation decreased compliance (Crs) and the volume (Vuip) of the UIP, and increased end-inspiratory pressure. The same changes were observed during the progression of edema produced by high volume ventilation (HV). Changes in Vuip and in Crs produced by HV were correlated with edema severity in normal rats or rats with lungs preinjured with alpha-naphthylthiourea. Vuip and Crs changes were proportional, reflecting compression of the PV curve on the volume axis and suggesting reduction of the amount of ventilatable lung at low airway pressure. In keeping with this explanation, the lower Vuip and Crs were before HV, the more severe HV-induced edema was in alpha-naphthylthiourea-injected rats. When edema was profuse, PV curves displayed a marked lower inflection point (LIP), the UIP at low pressure disappeared but another was seen at high volume above the LIP, and the correlation between Vuip changes and edema severity was lost. These observations may have clinical relevance in the context of the "open lung" strategy.. ventilator-induced lung injury; respiratory mechanics; acute respiratory distress syndrome

Topics: Airway Resistance; Animals; Disease Models, Animal; Inspiratory Capacity; Lung Compliance; Lung Volume Measurements; Male; Predictive Value of Tests; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Regression Analysis; Respiration, Artificial; Respiratory Distress Syndrome; Severity of Illness Index; Thiourea

This study was designed to investigate the possible participation of the L-arginine-nitric oxide (NO) pathway in the lung oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea, which is a well-known noxious chemical agent in the lung. Lung oedema was assessed by measuring fluid accumulation in the pleural cavity and the lung weight/body weight ratio following alpha-naphthylthiourea injection. Administration of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, a NO synthase inhibitor, prior to alpha-naphthylthiourea, produced a significant inhibition of pleural effusion and lung weight/body weight ratio in a dose-dependent manner. L-Arginine, but not D-arginine, when used higher doses (above 300 mg/kg) prior to alpha-naphthylthiourea injection caused a significant inhibition of pleural effusion without altering lung weight/body weight ratio. Lower doses of L-arginine (below 100 mg/kg) did not elicit an inhibitory effect against alpha-naphthylthiourea-induced pulmonary damage. However, lower doses of L-arginine greatly potentiated the inhibitory effect of NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester against alpha-naphthylthiourea-induced lung oedema when used in combination. The interesting aspect of this study is the inhibition by NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, a NO synthase inhibitor, and L-arginine, an endogenous donor of NO, of the lung oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea. The possible role of the L-arginine-NO pathway in lung oedema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea and the possible underlying mechanisms are discussed.

Topics: Animals; Arginine; Drug Synergism; Enzyme Inhibitors; Female; Lung; Male; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester; Nitric Oxide Synthase; Pleural Effusion; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Stereoisomerism; Thiourea

Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) prevents alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU)-induced permeability edema ex vivo. To explore the mechanisms in this involved effect, we administered KGF (5 mg/kg, intratracheally) 48 h prior to ANTU (50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Several groups were studied: phosphate-buffered saline/dimethylsulfoxide (PBS/DMSO) (vehicles), PBS/ANTU, and KGF/ANTU. At 90 min after ANTU injection the lungs were removed, ventilated, and perfused ex vivo for 180 min. Quantification of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled dextran in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was used to assess alveolar capillary barrier permeability. KGF attenuated ANTU-induced edema and blockade of sodium transport, with ouabain (10(-3) M) or amiloride (10(-4) M) added ex vivo reversed this effect. FITC-dextran was increased in the PBS/ANTU group as compared with the PBS/DMSO group, indicating permeability edema. In the KGF/ANTU group, there was concentration of BALF FITC-dextran, consistent with permeability edema and increased alveolar fluid export. Albumin space measurements showed similar increases in permeability in the PBS/ANTU and KGF/ANTU groups. Extravascular lung water (measured with radiolabeled erythrocytes) was decreased in the KGF/ANTU group. Following KGF pretreatment, uninjured lungs exported more intratracheal PBS than normal lungs following terbutaline stimulation ex vivo. In conclusion, KGF, through type II alveolar pneumocyte hyperplasia with increased sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase (Na,K-ATPase) activity, attenuated ANTU-induced edema formation by potentiating alveolar fluid clearance.

Topics: Absorption; Amiloride; Animals; Biological Transport; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Capillary Permeability; Dimethyl Sulfoxide; Enzyme Activation; Extravascular Lung Water; Fibroblast Growth Factor 10; Fibroblast Growth Factor 7; Fibroblast Growth Factors; Growth Substances; Ouabain; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Sodium; Sodium Chloride; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase; Thiourea

To investigate the effect of pretreatment with keratinocyte growth factor on acute permeability pulmonary edema.. Prospective, randomized, controlled animal study.. University research laboratory.. Specific pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley rats.. Acute permeability pulmonary edema was induced with an injection of alpha-naphthylthiourea, and lung leak was assessed in an isolated perfused lung model over 180 mins. Leak was confirmed with wet/dry lung weight ratios, and the alveolar fluid protein concentration was measured after bronchoalveolar lavage. The effect of pretreatment with keratinocyte growth factor (injected intratracheally 48 hrs before the experiment) on alpha-naphthylthiourea-induced pulmonary edema was assessed (keratinocyte growth factor/alpha-naphthylthiourea group). Control groups (Control and keratinocyte growth factor/Control) were also studied. Histopathology was performed for each of the four groups.. The alpha-naphthylthiourea produced an acute permeability pulmonary edema detected by lung leak over the 180-min ex vivo period of monitoring the isolated perfused lung (leak = 8+/-mL; wet/dry weight ratio 14.7+/-2; lavage protein 3.1+/-1 mg/mL). Pretreatment with keratinocyte growth factor significantly attenuated these parameters (leak = 2.3+/-0.4 mL; wet/dry weight ratio 7.1 +/- 0.5; lavage protein 0.28 +/-0.03 mg/mL), which were not significantly different from the control group and the keratinocyte growth factor/control group. Histopathology showed abundant type II pneumocyte hyperplasia in the lungs of animals pretreated with keratinocyte growth factor, and marked pulmonary edema in animals pretreated with alpha-naphthylthiourea. Less edema was apparent in the keratinocyte growth factor/alpha-naphthylthiourea group. All data are expressed as mean +/- SEM.. Pretreatment with keratinocyte growth factor significantly attenuates pulmonary edema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea. The mechanisms of this protection are likely related to type II pneumocyte hyperplasia, but remain to be specifically elucidated.

Topics: Animals; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Fibroblast Growth Factor 10; Fibroblast Growth Factor 7; Fibroblast Growth Factors; Growth Substances; Organ Size; Prospective Studies; Pulmonary Edema; Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rodenticides; Thiourea

Alpha-naphthylthiourea when injected intraperitoneally to rats (10 mg kg-1 i.p.) produced lung oedema as indicated by an increase in lung weight/body ratio and pleural effusion reaching a maximum within 4 hours. Prior intravenous single bolus injection of endothelin-1 elicited a significant and dose-dependent inhibition in both parameters. However, prior i.v. injection of angiotensin II using relatively higher doses did not alter the oedema-producing effect of alpha-naphthylthiourea indicating a characteristic for endothelin-1. The inhibitory effect of endothelin-1 on pleural effusion is more prominent than lung weight/body weight ratio. The resolution of lung oedema by single bolus i.v. injection of endothelin-1 is probably due to the acute long-lasting and potent vasoconstrictor effect of the peptide and its large accumulation in lung tissue. Phosphoramidon, an inhibitor of endothelin converting enzyme, did not alter the oedema producing effect of alpha-naphthylthiourea indicating the lack of the participation of endothelin-peptide cascade to this pathological event. Bosentan, a non-selective receptor blocker of endothelin-1, did not inhibit the preventive effect of the peptide against alpha-naphthylthiourea-induced lung oedema. Possible mechanisms of the acute effect of endothelin-1 on lung oedema are discussed.

Topics: Angiotensin II; Animals; Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; Body Weight; Bosentan; Endothelin-1; Endothelin-Converting Enzymes; Glycopeptides; Male; Metalloendopeptidases; Organ Size; Pleural Effusion; Protease Inhibitors; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Sulfonamides; Thiourea

alpha-Naphthylthiourea (ANTU) when injected intraperitoneally to rats at a dose of 10 mg/kg elicited lung oedema indicated by an increase in lung weight/body weight (LW/BW) ratio and pleural effusion. The injection of acetylsalicylic acid, which is a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, and BW 755C, a cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase inhibitor, prior to ANTU produced a significant inhibition in pleural fluid accumulation without changing the LW/BW ratio. BW A4C, a selective 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, however, caused a highly significant inhibition in pleural effusion and a slight but significant decrease in LW/BW ratio. Thromboxane A2 synthetase inhibitor, UK 38485, caused a slight but significant inhibition in pleural fluid accumulation without altering the LW/BW ratio. Iloprost, however, produced a slight but significant inhibition in the LW/BW ratio without reducing the pleural effusion rate. A significant decrease in angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity in the isolated perfused lungs of ANTU-treated rats was noted. This observation was thought to be an evidence of a functional alteration of the lung vascular endothelium. The possible role of eicosanoids in lung oedema induced by ANTU and the related mechanisms of decreased ACE activity are discussed.

Topics: Animals; Eicosanoids; Female; In Vitro Techniques; Lung; Male; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; Perfusion; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

Inhibitors of cytochrome P450, such as SK&F 525-A, prolong the duration of xylazine-ketamine anesthesia and cause pulmonary edema (PE) and death in rats. To determine the cause of PE, Sprague-Dawley rats were given a single dose of xylazine (21 mg/kg, im) alone or in combination with ketamine (45 mg/kg, im) and/or SK&F 525-A (50 mg/kg, ip) and percentage lung to body weight (%LW/BW) ratios (as an indicator of PE) were compared. The results indicated that xylazine caused PE which was independent of ketamine and was enhanced by SK&F 525-A. Subsequently, it was determined that 42 mg/kg xylazine, im, is an optimal edemagenic dose. Xylazine (42 mg/kg, im) increased the %LW/BW ratio as compared to control. Pleural effusion (PLE) of various amounts was observed in 75% of the animals. The pleural fluid to serum protein ratio for xylazine was similar to that obtained for alpha-naphthylthiourea (5 mg/kg, ip). Extensive serous PLE and alveolar edema with hemorrhage were found at necropsy in xylazine-treated rats. Pretreatment with yohimbine (4.2 mg/kg), prazosin (20 mg/kg), tolazoline (20 mg/kg), yohimbine (4.2 mg/kg) plus prazosin (20 mg/kg), atropine (20 mg/kg), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (7.8 g/kg), allopurinol (50 mg/kg), superoxide dismutase (20,000 U/kg), catalase (20,000 U/kg), BW755C (50 mg/kg), ibuprofen (50 mg/kg), cystathionine (100 mg/kg) plus taurine (100 mg/kg) did not affect the %LW/BW ratio. PLE was increased by yohimbine, yohimbine plus prazosin, and allopurinol, reduced by DMSO, and not changed in other groups. The results indicate that xylazine caused increased-permeability PE characterized by rapid onset, cellular damage and protein-rich pleural fluid. PE may not be mediated by adverse cardiovascular effects of xylazine and oxygen radicals are possibly involved in its etiology.

Topics: Anesthetics; Animals; Blood Proteins; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Lung; Male; Pleura; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Xylazine

The diamine, putrescine, and polyamines, spermidine and spermine, are low molecular weight organic cations with documented regulatory roles in cell growth and differentiation. Multiple lines of direct and indirect evidence suggest that these organic cations also may function in stimulus-response coupling processes regulating cellular injury and repair. For example, recent studies in monocrotaline-treated rats, hyperoxic rats, and in cultured pulmonary endothelial cells suggest that polyamines regulate pulmonary endothelial integrity and may thus participate in development and/or regression of acute edematous lung injury. To determine if the polyamines are involved in a well-characterized animal model of acute lung injury, the present experiments assessed the relation between changes in polyamine synthesis and development of edema in lungs from rats treated with alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU). ANTU caused dose- and time-dependent increases in the lung activity of the initial and rate-limiting enzyme in polyamine biosynthesis, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and in the lung contents of the polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine. ANTU also caused dose- and time-dependent increases in the lung wet-to-dry weight ratio indicative of pulmonary edema formation. Changes in lung polyamine biosyntheic activity after ANTU did not relate temporally to changes in the lung wet-to-dry weight ratio: ODC activity was depressed during the 3-h period immediately following ANTU administration, a period when the wet-to-dry weight ratio was increasing, and markedly elevated at 18 h after ANTU administration when the wet-to-dry weight ratio had returned to control levels. Pretreatment of the animals with alpha-difluoromethylornithine, a highly specific inhibitor of ODC, failed to attenuate ANTU-induced increases in lung wet-to-dry weight ratio. These observations indicate polyamine synthesis is enhanced in rat lungs with ANTU-induced pulmonary edema but, unlike certain other models of lung injury and pulmonary edema, accumulation of polyamines probably is not essential for development of edematous lung injury. It is conceivable that in this animal model polyamines play a role in lung repair processes or some longer-term consequence of lung injury.

Topics: Animals; Eflornithine; Lung; Male; Models, Biological; Organ Size; Ornithine Decarboxylase; Ornithine Decarboxylase Inhibitors; Polyamines; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

Endotoxin injected intraperitoneally caused leucopenia and pulmonary oedema in rats. These effects were spontaneously reversed over the 28 h after the single dose of endotoxin. The pharmacokinetics of three substrates, 14C-sucrose, 3H-prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and 3H-adenosine, were measured in perfused lungs isolated from rats at different times after treatment with endotoxin. The efflux kinetics of radiolabel derived from sucrose and adenosine were little affected, but that from PGE2 was markedly changed. The metabolism of PGE2 was also decreased. The change in PGE2 pharmacokinetics preceded the pulmonary oedema, but both pharmacokinetics and oedema returned to normal at the same time (28 h after endotoxin). It may be feasible to use PGE2 pharmacokinetics as a biochemical index for early warning of acute lung injury caused by sepsis.

Topics: Adenosine; Animals; Dinoprostone; Endotoxins; Half-Life; In Vitro Techniques; Lung; Male; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Respiratory Distress Syndrome; Sucrose; Thiourea

We compared areas and diameters of small airways and arteries in three groups of anesthetized dogs: 1) control (n = 5), 2) hydrostatic edema induced by fluid overload (n = 13), and 3) increased permeability edema induced with alpha-naphthylthiourea (n = 5). We measured pulmonary arterial and wedge pressures in all groups and cardiac output in the hydrostatic edema group. Postmortem, lobes were frozen at functional residual capacity and samples taken for measurements of extravascular lung water (Qwl/dQl) and for light microscopy. We also examined lobes from hydrostatic edema experiments fixed at transpulmonary pressures of 5 and 27 cmH2O. From the histology slides, bronchovascular bundles with respiratory bronchioles (n = 706) and bronchioles (n = 467) were photographed and airway and vessel areas and diameters measured. Alveolar and airway luminal edema were graded. We found that only in hydrostatic edema, pulmonary arterial and wedge pressures increased and vascular resistance fell with fluid infusion. Mean Qwl/dQl values were 3.80 +/- 0.17, 6.81 +/- 0.96, and 9.34 +/- 0.62 (SE) in control, hydrostatic, and increased permeability edema groups, respectively. By quantitative histology, airway and arterial areas and diameters did not decrease in edema and rose with increasing transpulmonary pressure. Variable quantities of air-space edema were seen. We conclude that interstitial edema does not compress small airways or arteries and that other mechanisms, including alveolar and airway luminal edema, may explain reported increases in airway resistance.

Topics: Animals; Cardiac Output; Dogs; Female; Hemodynamics; Isotonic Solutions; Lung; Male; Pulmonary Artery; Pulmonary Edema; Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; Ringer's Lactate; Thiourea; Vascular Resistance

Lung injury and pulmonary edema were induced in rats after intraperitoneal injection of 10 mg/kg alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU). The time course of development of lung injury was assessed by the clearance of 99mTc-diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (99mTcDTPA) from the lung into the blood, the pharmacokinetics of tritiated prostaglandin E2 [( 3H]PGE2) in the isolated perfused lung, and by increase in the weight ratio (wet-to-dry) of lung. Two hours after ANTU administration, the clearance of 99mTcDTPA was significantly faster than in untreated animals and implied an increase in permeability of the alveolar-capillary barrier. This change preceded the increase in wet-to-dry weight ratio of lung, which was not significant until 5 h after ANTU administration. The pharmacokinetics of [3H]PGE2 were significantly altered after ANTU and these changes persisted beyond the time when both lung weight ratio and 99mTcDTPA clearance had recovered to normal values. We conclude that both 99mTcDTPA clearance and PGE2 pharmacokinetics change in ANTU-induced lung injury but with different time courses. In the progressive phase of lung injury due to ANTU, the early change in clearance of 99mTcDTPA suggests that an increased permeation of the alveolar capillary barrier by this small molecule precedes pulmonary edema due to an increased colloid permeability of the barrier. Abnormal metabolism in the pulmonary microvasculature persists when the permeability defect and edema have recovered.

Topics: Animals; Capillary Permeability; Dinoprostone; Kinetics; Lung; Male; Organ Size; Organometallic Compounds; Pentetic Acid; Prostaglandins E; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate; Thiourea

The rate and sequence of interstitial and alveolar fluid removal from the lung after the occurrence of pulmonary edema were examined. Rats were given intraperitoneal injections of 20 mg/kg alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), resulting in an increased permeability edema with alveolar flooding. Animals were killed at intervals between 2 and 48 hours after ANTU for the gravimetric determination of extravascular lung water (Qwl/dQl) and histologic study of the lung. Interstitial fluid volume was quantified by a morphometric technique. The assumptions were made that edema fluid equaled the experimental Qwl/dQl minus the normal Qwl/dQl, and that the edema fluid volume equaled the sum of interstitial and alveolar fluid volume. It was found that between 2 and 4 hours after the induction of pulmonary edema, fluid was removed from the alveolar space faster than it was removed from the interstitial space. Between 4 and 48 hours after ANTU, the fluid removal rate from both compartments was much slower, and interstitial fluid was removed at a faster rate than alveolar fluid. It is hypothesized that the later phase of fluid removal from the lung is dependent on the removal of protein.

Topics: Animals; Biological Transport; Body Weight; Extracellular Space; Male; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea; Time Factors

1 Pulmonary oedema, assessed by decreases in the lung dry weight:wet weight ratio, was induced in rats by a single i.p. injection of alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU). The oedema reached a peak at 4 h after ANTU and had completely resolved after 28 h. 2 Pulmonary pharmacokinetics of adenosine were measured in isolated, perfused lungs using radiolabelled adenosine and sucrose, injected into the perfusate as a single bolus. 3 By 1 h after ANTU the 1 min efflux of tracer for adenosine increased to over 60% and remained high until 16 h after ANTU. The time for 50% of injected radioactivity to appear in lung effluent (t1/2) for adenosine was reduced from its normal value of greater than 120 s to a minimum of 27 s at 1 h after ANTU. The proportion of adenosine in lung effluent did not change until 16 h after ANTU treatment but returned to normal by 50 h. 4 There were only minimal changes in the T1/2 and 1 min efflux for sucrose following ANTU treatment. 5 It appears that both the uptake and metabolism of adenosine are affected by ANTU-induced lung damage. The early effects are chiefly on uptake with metabolism remaining normal. Later (after 16 h) metabolism is decreased with uptake recovering to normal levels. 6 The effects on adenosine uptake paralleled the development and the resolution of oedema, suggesting that this variable might provide a biochemical index of the physical processes leading to lung oedema.

Topics: Adenosine; Animals; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Lung; Male; Permeability; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

Recent work with isolated blood vessels has emphasized the importance of intact endothelium when the relaxation of vascular smooth muscle is induced by acetylcholine (ACh). However, the physiologic significance of this endothelial-dependent ACh response in a complete organ circulation is unclear. We questioned whether diminished ACh vasodilation would result from damage of lung vascular endothelium and whether this response could be used as an indication of endothelial injury. We therefore induced pulmonary endothelial cell injury in one rat model by repeated injections of alpha-naphthyl thiourea (ANTU) and in a second rat model by exposing rats for 52 h to 100% oxygen at a barometric pressure of 760 torr (hyperoxia). Rats injected with Tween 80, the solvent for ANTU, or exposed to ambient Denver air served as the respective control animals. The isolated lungs of these rats were perfused with a recirculating cell- and plasma-free, physiological salt solution to study the effect of ACh or NaCl infusion on pulmonary perfusion pressure and vascular responsiveness. ANTU-treated rats demonstrated an intact vasodilatory response after ACh infusion when compared with the solvent control animals. The immediate pulmonary vasodilation after ACh infusion was slightly enhanced in the hyperoxic rat lung when compared with the rats exposed to ambient air, but there was no difference between these groups in the prolonged depression of vascular responsiveness to hypoxia or angiotensin II. Thus, in both models of lung endothelial cell injury, the pulmonary vascular responses to ACh were intact.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Acetylcholine; Acute Disease; Animals; Chronic Disease; In Vitro Techniques; Lung Diseases; Male; Microbial Collagenase; Microscopy, Electron; Oxygen; Perfusion; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Vascular Diseases; Vasodilation

alpha-Naphthylthiourea (ANTU) causes pulmonary edema and pleural effusion in rats. It has been suggested that ANTU pneumotoxicity may be mediated by blood neutrophils (PMNs) via the release of reactive oxygen species. Accordingly, we tested the effect of technical grade ANTU (tANTU) on the ability of rat peritoneal PMNs to release superoxide (O2-). tANTU did not itself stimulate O2- production by PMNs, but it increased the O2- released in response to PMN stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). This effect was dependent upon the amount of tANTU added. In PMNs activated in vitro by a submaximal PMA stimulus, addition of 20 micrograms/ml tANTU doubled superoxide release. When tANTU was recrystallized from ethanol, the purified ANTU was not effective in potentiating the effect of PMA on PMNs. This suggests that an impurity in technical grade ANTU is capable of increasing O2- release by stimulated PMNs. tANTU and recrystallized ANTU caused similar pneumotoxicity in rats in vivo, suggesting that the unidentified impurity does not markedly influence the biologic effects of ANTU.

Topics: Animals; Drug Contamination; Drug Synergism; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Neutrophils; Pleural Effusion; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Superoxides; Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate; Thiourea

The detailed topography of filtration and of accumulation of the tracer dextran 75 was studied in 3 control dogs and in 9 experimental dogs in which edema was induced with 27 mg/kg alpha-naphthylthiourea. When moderately severe edema was present, 15-20 ml/kg of 6% dextran 75 was infused over 10-15 minutes; lung lobes were then fixed immediately by immersion, airway instillation, or vascular perfusion with 5% glutaraldehyde, 3% paraformaldehyde, or by freeze-substitution. For light microscopy, sections were embedded in methacrylate and stained with periodic acid-Schiff; for electron microscopy, they were embedded in Epon. The tracer was confined to the vasculature in controls. In all but one animal with edema, the tracer was seen in relation to capillaries, nonmuscular and partly muscular arteries, and veins, not in the walls of muscular arteries or around bronchial vessels. The dextran rapidly entered alveoli, lymphatics, and the interstitium around small vessels; there was much less tracer in the interstitium around larger vessels and essentially none around airways, consistent with the notion the interstitium acts as a sequestered pool. Furthermore, it was found that significant artifacts resulted from airway instillation and vascular perfusion fixation.

Topics: Animals; Capillary Permeability; Dextrans; Dogs; Female; Histological Techniques; Lung; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Thiourea

We used the in situ blood-perfused left lower lobe preparation of the dog to examine the effect of hydrostatic and permeability edema on the slope and intercept of the vascular pressure-flow (P/Q) relationship and on the longitudinal distribution of vascular resistance with the arterial and venous occlusion technique. Hydrostatic edema (HE) was induced by raising the venous pressure, and permeability edema (PE) was induced with alpha-naphthylthiourea. When the hematocrit (Hct) of the perfusate was kept normal (approximately 40%), HE had no significant effect on either the slope or the intercept of the P/Q relationship or on the distribution of vascular resistance. PE caused a small increase in the intercept of the P/Q relationship and a small rise in the resistance of the vessels in the middle segment. In another series of HE experiments in which Hct was allowed to increase during edema formation, there was a marked increase in vascular resistance. We conclude that edema per se does not increase vascular resistance significantly and that the increases in vascular resistance which were observed previously by other investigators in the isolated lungs may be due to increases in blood hematocrit.

Topics: Animals; Blood Pressure; Dogs; Hematocrit; Hydrostatic Pressure; In Vitro Techniques; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Thiourea; Vascular Resistance

Using the thiocarbamide model of acute lung injury in rats, we found that alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU) caused lung endothelial cell injury, as evidenced by increased permeability edema and decreased angiotensin I conversion. These effects were associated with enhanced pulmonary vascular reactivity. Recurrent ANTU lung injury caused pulmonary hypertension. The water-soluble thiocarbamide thiourea caused cultured vascular endothelial cells to release neutrophil chemoattractant activity. We speculate that endothelial cell injury may modulate the function of vascular smooth muscle and blood leukocytes.

Topics: Angiotensin II; Animals; Endothelium; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Lung; Lung Diseases; Male; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Neutrophils; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

Synthesis of COP (prostaglandins; PG and thromboxanes; Tx) from exogenous and endogenous arachidonic acid (AA) was studied in isolated perfused lungs from rats treated in vivo with a single dose of alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU; 10mg/kg;). Lung dry:wet weight ratios showed changes characteristic of oedema between 6 and 16h after ANTU. Bioassay of COP showed that COP synthesis from exogenous AA was raised above control values in lungs from rats treated with ANTU, reaching a maximum at 16h after treatment. By radioimmunoassay, the major increase was in 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha, with lesser effects on PGE2 and PGF2 alpha levels. Synthesis of bioassayable COP from endogenous AA induced by the calcium ionophore A23187 was increased as early as 2h after ANTU treatment and remained elevated up to 70h. In lungs 28h after ANTU, 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha release was greater than in normal lungs. These results show that in this model of pulmonary oedema, the potential for COP synthesis was increased. From the time course of this effect, increased COP synthesis was probably a response to the initial damage rather than a cause of the oedema.

Topics: Animals; Arachidonic Acid; Arachidonic Acids; Calcimycin; In Vitro Techniques; Lung; Male; Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases; Prostaglandins; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Thromboxanes

Topics: Animals; Dinoprostone; Half-Life; Kinetics; Lung; Male; Prostaglandins E; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea; Thromboxane B2; Tritium

A controversy exists as to the preferred solution for plasma volume replacement and cardiac output maintenance in the presence of lung injury. To evaluate these responses, crystalloid and colloid infusions were compared in dogs treated with 5 mg/kg of alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), which produces a predictable increase in vascular permeability and extravascular water (QW) in the lung. A tracheobronchial lymphatic from the left lung was cannulated and left atrial (Pla) pressure, lymph flow, lymph-to-plasma protein concentration ratios, and thermal dilution cardiac output were monitored. Test infusions were either 15 ml/kg of 6% dextran 70 (DX) or 60 ml/kg of normal saline (NS) infused over 20 min. Solutions were infused 3 h after ANTU as follows: group I (DX); group II (NS), group III (DX, constant Pla); and group IV (NS, constant Pla). In groups III and IV, Pla was maintained constant by bleeding into a reservoir during an exchange transfusion. Postinfusion QW increased to 9.01 and 9.14 g/g blood-free dry wt for groups I and II, respectively, but there was no significant postinfusion increase in QW for groups III and IV compared with the 3-h preinfusion values. However, cardiac output was significantly higher at 5 h in group III compared with group IV. These studies indicate that capillary hydrostatic pressure was the major determinant of QW during the infusions but that DX maintained cardiac output significantly higher because of vascular retention of the colloids.

Topics: Animals; Body Fluids; Capillary Permeability; Cardiac Output; Dextrans; Dogs; Hemodynamics; Infusions, Parenteral; Lymph; Pulmonary Edema; Thiourea

During routine inhalation toxicity studies, microscopic examination of tissues from lungs which have shown small, but statistically significant increases, in organ weight has failed to show evidence of any pathological change. Historically, increases, thought to be due to mild oedema, have been difficult to identify microscopically. A method suitable for dealing with large numbers of rodents has been developed, which can detect microscopically changes associated with small increases in lung weight. The lungs were inflated with formalin vapour and fixed in 10% buffered formalin. Histological processing methods were varied to obtain the best demonstration of oedema. Fixation methods were compared using alpha-naphthylthiourea-induced oedematous lungs. The left lobe was inflated with formalin vapour and the rest of the lung was distended with 10% buffered formalin. The best demonstration of oedema followed formalin vapour fixation. Evidence of oedema, indicated by lung weight increases of approximately 10%, was seen microscopically in formalin-vapour-fixed lungs, but was not seen in the lobes distended with 10% buffered formalin. Application of this technique to other species including cats and dogs has also proved successful.

Topics: Animals; Cats; Lung; Male; Organ Size; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Staining and Labeling; Thiourea

alpha-Naphthyl thiourea ( ANTU ) produces pulmonary endothelial injury, pulmonary edema, and pleural effusions in rats in a dose-dependent manner. Since prostaglandins of the E series have been shown to modulate inflammatory responses in vivo and neutrophil and platelet function in vitro we investigated the effects of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on ANTU -induced lung injury. Systemic administration of 15-(S)-15-methyl-PGE1 (15-M-PGE1), a stable analog of PGE1, potentiated lung injury induced by ANTU in a dose- and time-dependent manner. 15-M-PGE1 (1 mg/kg, subcutaneously) administered 1 hour prior to ANTU treatment (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) resulted in a 164% increase (p less than 0.001) in pleural effusion formation and a 42% increase (p less than 0.02) in wet lung weight at 4 hours after ANTU administration. This was associated with increased pulmonary endothelial cell blebbing and gap formation with a decrease in the number of platelet thrombi in 15-M-PGE1-treated animals compared with controls. 15-(S)-15-methyl-prostaglandin F2 alpha, was less effective than 15-M-PGE1 in potentiating ANTU -induced lung injury. Platelet depletion, but not neutrophil depletion, also potentiated ANTU -induced lung injury, suggesting a protective role for platelets. Platelets isolated from 15-M-PGE1-treated animals demonstrated an approximately 50% decreased aggregation response to adenosine diphosphate. 15-M-PGE1 (1 mg/kg) treatment combined with platelet depletion resulted in a 1.7-fold increase (p less than 0.01) in pleural effusions in ANTU -treated (1 mg/kg) animals compared with platelet depletion alone. These studies indicate that systemic treatment of rats with 15-M-PGE1 will potentiate ANTU -induced lung injury. This injury may be in part secondary to the ability of 15-M-PGE1 to inhibit platelet function. However, platelet depletion studies suggest that 15-M-PGE1 has additional effects, possibly on endothelial cells and/or vascular smooth muscle cells that contribute to the potentiation of ANTU -induced lung injury.

Topics: Alprostadil; Animals; Blood Platelets; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Lung; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Pleural Effusion; Prostaglandins E, Synthetic; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Rodenticides; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; Thiourea; Time Factors

We utilized light microscopic morphometry to examine the distribution of fluid in bronchovascular bundles of different sizes. Permeability edema was induced in 10 anesthetized dogs with 27 mg/kg of alpha-naphthylthiourea. Eight dogs served as controls. After moderately severe edema, diagnosed on chest radiographs and with decreasing arterial pO2, lobes were fixed with glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde or by freeze substitution. Postmortem wet weight to dry weight ratios were 7.82 +/- 0.62 (mean +/- SE) in the edematous lungs and 4.38 +/- 0.25 in the controls. Bronchovascular bundles were photographed and grouped as follows: bundles composed of separated arteries and bronchioles, bundles with connected arteries and bronchioles, and bundles with connected arteries and bronchi. The transparencies were projected on a tablet interfaced to a computer and the following areas were determined: T, the total bundle area; V, the vessel (artery) area; B, the airway (bronchiole or bronchus) area; A1, the tight periarterial adventitial sheath area; A2, the loose periarterial interstitial area; and A3, the bronchiolar/bronchial interstitial area. In addition, edema ratios for arteries (A2/V) and airways (A3/B) were calculated. We found that (a) A1 was very small and did not change with edema; (b) A2 in all bundles increased 10-fold with edema (p less than 0.01), whereas A3 increased 2- to 3-fold; (c) A2/V increased 9- to 15-fold in the edematous bundles (p less than 0.01) and (d) A3/B did not change in separated bundles (p greater than 0.05) but was approximately double after edema in the connected bundles with bronchioles and bronchi (p less than 0.01). We conclude that edema in bronchovascular bundles accumulates preferentially in the loose periarterial interstitium and does not appear to accumulate around smaller bronchioles. These data may be explained by anatomical factors and by gradients of interstitial pressure.

Topics: Animals; Bronchi; Capillaries; Capillary Permeability; Dogs; Extracellular Space; Female; Male; Pulmonary Edema; Thiourea

alpha-Naphthylthiourea (ANTU) damages the pulmonary capillary endothelium producing a marked pulmonary edema. Since the pulmonary microvasculature regulates the circulating levels of serotonin (5-HT), the role of 5-HT in the pathophysiology of ANTU-induced pulmonary edema was examined. Mice treated with ANTU (10 mg/kg, ip) rapidly developed pulmonary edema which was maximal at 3 hr and was resolved by 12 hr. The lung content of both endogenous 5-HT and a tracer dose of 5-[3H]HT paralleled the time course of the development and resolution of the pulmonary edema. ANTU produced a significant thrombocytopenia (58 to 72%) at all time points, and an elevated platelet content of 5-HT and 5-[3H]HT during the resolution phase (6 to 12 hr). Drugs possessing select effects on 5-HT were shown to alter the edematogenic response to ANTU. Fluoxetine, a selective inhibitor of 5-HT uptake, potentiated the pulmonary edema, while clorgyline, an irreversible inhibitor of type A monoamine oxidase, was without effect. Reserpine which depletes 5-HT stores prevented both thrombocytopenia and pulmonary edema in response to ANTU. Reloading the lung and platelet 5-HT stores of reserpinized animals reestablished the normal response to ANTU. Pretreatment with the selective 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, prevented the thrombocytopenia, the increase in lung content of 5-HT and 5-[3H]HT, and prevented the edematogenic response to ANTU by 70%. These data indicate a major role for 5-HT in the pathophysiology of acute lung microvascular injury produced by ANTU.

Topics: Animals; Blood Platelets; Clorgyline; Drug Interactions; Fluoxetine; Ketanserin; Lung; Male; Mice; Piperidines; Pulmonary Edema; Reserpine; Serotonin; Serotonin Antagonists; Thiourea; Thrombocytopenia

Rat lungs were inflated and incubated in either anionic or cationic ferritin, and alveolar and capillary basement membranes were examined by electron microscopy. Cationic ferritin bound to heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the external surface of the alveolar basement membrane, whereas cationic ferritin bound to the lamina densa of the capillary basement membranes. Anionic and cationic ferritin was also perfused through the pulmonary circulation of lungs isolated from control rats and rats previously injected with alpha-naphthylthiourea, which produces permeability pulmonary edema. Neither anionic nor cationic ferritin leaked from the pulmonary capillaries in perfused controls; cationic, but not anionic, ferritin adhered to endothelial cell surfaces. In lungs with alpha-naphthylthiourea pulmonary edema, perfused for 2-15 minutes, anionic ferritin leaked from pulmonary capillaries into the alveolar interstitium and alveolar space, while cationic ferritin remained within the capillary lumen. Five times as much anionic ferritin appeared in the capillary basement membranes on the thick side of the alveolar wall, as in the alveolar basement membranes on the thin side of the alveolar wall. In alpha-naphthylthiourea lungs perfused for 45-60 minutes, cationic ferritin also leaked through the injured endothelium and bound twice as much to the alveolar as the capillary basement membranes. The negatively charged pulmonary capillary endothelium, the positively charged capillary basement membranes, and the negatively charged alveolar basement membranes may influence the transport of macromolecules from the pulmonary circulation in permeability pulmonary edema.

Topics: Animals; Basement Membrane; Biological Transport; Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; Ferritins; Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans; Heparitin Sulfate; Lung; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Perfusion; Permeability; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Tissue Distribution

To determine the effect of the type of lung injury on the thermodilution estimation of extravascular lung water, we produced pulmonary edema in 25 anesthetized dogs by injection of alloxan or alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU) into the pulmonary circulation or by instillation of hydrochloric acid (HCI) into the airway. HCl injury was bilateral, unilateral with tidal volume equal in each lung, or unilateral with equal airway pressure. Extravascular thermal volume (ETV) was measured at base line and 4 h after lung injury, and the final measurement was compared with the postmortem determination of extravascular lung mass (ELM). In 11 of 15 animals with HCl injury final ETV was less than the base-line measurement. The ratio of final ETV to ELM for all HCl animal (group I) averaged 0.31 +/- 0.14, which was different from the value for animals with alloxan or ANTU injury (group II), 1.04 +/- 0.14 (P less than 0.01). Extravascular lung water per gram of blood-free dry tissue was not different for the two groups (8.1 +/- 1.2 and 8.7 +/- 2.6 for I and II, respectively), indicating equally severe lung injury; however, shunt fraction was less in group I (P less than 0.01). ETV/ELM correlated with the shunt fraction for group I (r = 0.70) but not for group II (r = 0.32). These findings indicate that ETV underestimates lung water after HCl injury due to the redistribution of pulmonary blood flow away from edematous areas.

Topics: Alloxan; Animals; Cardiac Output; Dogs; Extracellular Space; Hydrochloric Acid; Lung; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Thermodilution; Thiourea; Tidal Volume

Topics: Animals; Body Water; Capillary Permeability; Catalase; Dogs; Lymph; Pulmonary Edema; Superoxide Dismutase; Thiourea

We investigated the effects of lung injury due to alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU) on pulmonary vascular reactivity. Rats were treated with ANTU (10 mg/kg ip) or the vehicle Tween 80. Four hours later, lungs from ANTU-treated rats had increased wet-to-dry weight ratios, bronchial lavage protein concentrations, and perivascular edema. To test vascular reactivity, lungs were isolated and perfused with blood at constant flow rate, while mean pulmonary arterial pressure was monitored. ANTU-treated lungs vasoconstricted earlier than Tween-treated lungs in response to severe airway hypoxia (fractional inspired O2 0%). ANTU-treated lungs vasoconstricted in response to 10% O2, while Tween-treated lungs failed to respond to 10% O2, indicating that the threshold for hypoxic vasoconstriction was decreased by ANTU. ANTU also decreased the threshold for and increased the magnitude of angiotensin II pressor responses, indicating that the increased vasoreactivity was not specific for hypoxia. Addition of meclofenamate to perfusates increased the rate and magnitude of responses to 0% O2 in Tween-treated lungs, but did not change the responses of ANTU-treated lungs. Light microscopy of ANTU-treated lungs showed no pulmonary arterial obstruction, and electron microscopy revealed mild capillary endothelial cell injury. We conclude that enhanced pulmonary vascular reactivity accompanies the increased-permeability pulmonary edema caused by ANTU. A similar increase in vasoreactivity might contribute to pulmonary hypertension observed in patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

Topics: Angiotensin II; Animals; Blood Vessels; Hypoxia; Lung; Male; Meclofenamic Acid; Oxygen; Polysorbates; Pulmonary Circulation; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Time Factors; Vasoconstriction

The time course of the respiratory consequences of alpha-naphthyl thiourea (ANTU)-induced lung oedema was studied in adult albino rats, up to 6 h after the injection of 5 mg/kg ANTU. Control rats were injected with olive oil (ANTU solvent). After 6 h, pulmonary extravascular water increased by 50% in ANTU-treated rats and the volume of the pleural effusion reached 3.4 +/- 0.1 ml (mean +/- s.e. mean). The most striking point is the absence of hypoxaemia in the ANTU-treated rats: PaO2 = 103 +/- 1.5 Torr vs 100 +/- 1 Torr in the control rats. The non-decreased PaO2 can be related to the patency of the alveolar airspaces. The predominant location of the oedema in the lung interstitium is caused by a specific lymphatic drainage pathway towards the pleura in the rat which prevents alveolar flooding. Histological findings support this hypothesis. PaCO2 is unaltered: 32 +/- 1 Torr in ANTU rats vs 33.5 +/- 1 Torr in control rats. A slight downward shift of arterial pH is found in ANTU rats: (7.440 +/- 0.010 vs 7.475 +/- 0.010, P less than 0.01). Concomittently (HCO3-)a decreases in ANTU-treated rats (22.2 +/- 1.2 mmol l-1 vs 24.8 +/- 0.6 mmol l-1, P less than 0.01). The absence of hypoxaemia is common with normobaric oxygen (02) and ANTU-induced lung oedema in the rat. A comparison is made between 02 and ANTU toxicity, as for respiratory events and histological features.

Topics: Animals; Blood Pressure; Body Temperature; Carbon Dioxide; Heart Rate; Hematocrit; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Lactates; Lung; Male; Oxygen; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

In pulmonary edema, fluid accumulates first in the interstitium, then in the alveoli. However, the relative amounts of interstitial fluid around arteries and veins of different sizes are unknown; in addition, the effects of fixation on the light microscopic quantitation of edema are unclear. To answer these questions, we induced permeability pulmonary edema in seven anesthetized dogs with 27 mg/kg of alpha-naphthylthiourea. Pulmonary artery and wedge pressures were measured. After moderately severe edema, diagnosed by chest x-ray and falling arterial pO2, lobes were fixed by airways instillation or vascular perfusion with glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde or were frozen with liquid nitrogen. With light microscopy, the edema surrounding arteries and veins of different sizes was measured using a computer equipped with a digitizing tablet and expressed as the edema ratio = area of perivascular edema/area of vessel, or as an absolute area of edema. Alveolar edema was graded semiquantitatively, and wet weight to dry weight ratios were calculated. Two control dogs were also studied. During the induction of edema, pulmonary artery and wedge pressures did not change significantly. Mean wet weight to dry weight ratios were 9.3 +/- 1.1. We found that the edema ratio was greater (p less than 0.01) for arteries (2.75, n = 1305) than for veins (1.40, n = 900). The edema ratio was greater for vessels more than 400 micron than less than 400 micron (p less than 0.01) and greater in the instillation- and perfusion-fixed lobes than in the frozen lobes (p less than 0.01). Similar results were obtained for the absolute areas of periarterial and perivenous edema. Less alveolar edema was seen in the lobes fixed by instillation (p less than 0.01). We conclude that, in permeability edema induced by alpha-naphthylthiourea, the fluid accumulates preferentially around arteries compared with veins and around larger compared with smaller vessels. Airways instillation and vascular perfusion fixation appeared to increase interstitial fluid cuffs compared to freezing.

Topics: Animals; Capillary Permeability; Dogs; Female; Male; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Artery; Pulmonary Edema; Pulmonary Veins; Thiourea

Topics: Angiotensin II; Animals; Capillary Permeability; Lung; Male; Oxygen; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea; Vasoconstriction

The effect of pulmonary oedema on the pharmacokinetic function of rat lungs was studied using prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as substrate; oedema was induced by alpha-naphthyl thiourea (ANTU). Male rats were given a single i.p. injection of ANTU (10 mg/kg). Lung wet weight, dry:wet weight ratio and pleural transudate were measured at fixed times up to 50 hr after treatment. Wet weight was increased after 4 hr and remained higher than controls until 50 hr; dry:wet weight ratios were different only at 6 and 16 hr. Survival of PGE2 (measured by bioassay) was increased at 4 hr, reached a peak value of about six times the control survival at 6 hr and returned to normal by 50 hr. Using 14C-PGE2 as substrate, survival was maximal at 16 hr and back to normal by 50 hr. The efflux profiles of radioactivity showed an increase in T1/2 by 4 hr rising to a maximum at 28 hr and a normal value at 50 hr. Changes in PGE2 survival precede the period of oedema (assessed by dry:wet ratio) and could be used as an early warning of oedematous states. This altered pharmacokinetic function of lung could also have systemic effects.

Topics: Animals; Dinoprostone; Disease Models, Animal; Exudates and Transudates; Inactivation, Metabolic; Kinetics; Lung; Male; Organ Size; Prostaglandins E; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Thiourea

Topics: Animals; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

Pulmonary injury caused by alpha naphthylthiourea (ANTU) is characterized by alterations of the capillary endothelial barrier followed by lung edema. Because pulmonary uptake of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is dependent upon active transcellular transport by lung endothelium, it may be an index of early impairment of endothelial function caused by ANTU. We studied the effect of a single intraperitoneal dose of 5 or of 10 mg/kg of ANTU on pulmonary uptake of 5-HT by isolated rat lungs. Four h after the administration of ANTU, when lung tissue structure and dry-to-wet-weight ratios were comparable to those of control animals, 5-HT uptakes were significantly reduced (p < 0.05). Twenty-four h after the administration of ANTU, when lung edema was present on histologic examination and by lung weights, 5-HT uptakes were further reduced. They returned to control values 14 days after the administration of ANTU. Depression of 5-HT uptake is an early and reversible alteration of lung endothelial cell function caused by ANTU. Uptake of 5-HT may provide a sensitive probe with which to detect and evaluate pulmonary endothelial cell injury caused by toxicants.

Topics: Animals; Biological Transport, Active; Capillaries; Endothelium; In Vitro Techniques; Lung; Male; Naphthalenes; Organ Size; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Serotonin; Thiourea

Topics: Animals; Freeze Fracturing; Lung; Male; Microscopy, Electron; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

The pulmonary absorption of 14C-labeled urea, mannitol, inulin, and dextran was measured in vivo in anesthetized rats with alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU)-induced (5 mg/kg, ip) lung edema. At 1 h after ANTU treatment, the absorption of mannitol was significantly increased; in 4-h ANTU-treated animals, the absorption of urea was unchanged, whereas the absorption of mannitol, inulin and dextran was increased markedly compared to controls. Although disappearance of each solute from control lungs could be described by a single, first-order rate, absorption time curves for mannitol and inulin showed at least two components in edematous lungs: a fast component(s) and a slower, first-order component; fast-component rates for the two saccharides appeared to be similar; the slow-component rate for each compound was not significantly different from its control rate. The results suggest that fast-component absorption in ANTU-treated rats represents a fraction of instilled solute which entered damaged areas of lung where the porosity of the absorbing membranes was markedly increased, whereas slow-component absorption occurred from normal areas of lung.

Topics: Animals; Cell Membrane Permeability; Dextrans; Epithelium; Inulin; Kinetics; Lung; Male; Mannitol; Naphthalenes; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea; Urea

Topics: Animals; Dogs; Edema; Lung Diseases; Oxygen; Pulmonary Edema; Respiration; Thiourea

Topics: Animals; Exudates and Transudates; Lung Diseases; Pleura; Pleural Effusion; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

Topics: Animals; Anura; Dogs; Lung; Mice; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea

Topics: Animals; Dogs; Edema; Lung; Pleural Effusion; Pleurisy; Pulmonary Edema; Rats; Thiourea