F. F. Hahn

Repeated inhalation exposure of rats to aerosols of 144CeO2. II. Effects on survival and lung, liver, and skeletal neoplasms.

Groups of 94-day-old F344/Crl rats were exposed repeatedly to aerosols of 144CeO2 to reestablish desired lung burdens of 1.9, 9.2, 46, or 230 kBq of 144Ce every 60 days for 1 year (seven exposures). Other 94-day-old rats were exposed once to achieve similar desired initial lung burdens of 144Ce. Older rats were exposed once to achieve desired initial lung burdens of 46 or 230 kBq when 500 days of age, the same age at which rats had the last of the repeated exposures. Control rats were either unexposed, sham-exposed once or repeatedly, or exposed once or repeatedly to stable CeO2. Approximately equal numbers of male and female rats were used. The median survival time and cumulative percentage survival curves were significantly decreased only in male and female rats exposed repeatedly to reestablish a 230-kBq lung burden and among the 94-day-old male rats exposed once to achieve a 230-kBq lung burden of 144Ce. The crude incidences of primary lung cancers (well described by a single Weibull distribution function), time to death with lung tumors, and risk of lung cancer per unit of beta-radiation dose to the lungs were correlated with the cumulative beta-radiation dose rather than the rate at which the dose was accumulated. A linear function, 70 (+/- 7.3) + -0.15 (+/- 0.056) x dose (+/- SD), adequately described the excess numbers of rats with lung cancers over a beta-radiation dose range to the lungs of 6.8 to 250 Gy for two groups of rats with the highest doses to the lungs after a single exposure and for two groups with the highest doses after repeated exposure.

Changes in collagen metabolism and proteinolysis after repeated inhalation exposure to ozone

To study the changes in collagen metabolism that occur in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis, female rats were exposed to 0, 0.57, and 1.1 ppm ozone for 19 hr/day for 11 days and sacrificed 12 or 60 days after initiation of exposure. The lungs of rats sacrificed at 12 days after initiation of exposure to 1.1 ppm had interstitial pneumonia characterized by a mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate, type II cell hyperplasia, and fibroplasia, a proliferation of the collagen-producing cells; increased cathepsin D and macrophage elastase activity, indicating macrophage-induced proteinolysis; a reduced percentage of the increased collagen production that was ultrafilterable, indicating a decreased rate of intracellular degradation of newly produced collagen prior to its secretion; and increased lavage fluid hydroxyproline, indicating turnover of extracellular collagenous matrix. Reduced intracellular collagen degradation correlated directly with both increased net collagen production and fibroplasia in rats exposed to 1.1 ppm ozone for 11 days. These changes preceded an increased total lung collagen and the development of modest fibroplasia and fibrosis in the alveolar duct regions by 60 days after the 1.1 ppm ozone exposure was initiated.

Modifying effects of preexisting pulmonary fibrosis on biological responses of rats to inhaled 239PuO2

We investigated the modifying effects of preexisting, bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis on the deposition, retention, and biological effects of inhaled 239PuO2 in the rat. Among rats exposed to similar airborne concentrations of 239PuO2, initial lung burdens of 239Pu per kilogram body mass were similar whether or not pulmonary fibrosis was present. However, clearance of 239Pu from the lungs was significantly decreased in the rats with preexisting pulmonary fibrosis. The incidence of lung lesions (epithelial hyperplasia, diffuse macrophage increases and aggregation, and loose and dense connective tissue) was significantly greater among rats with preexisting pulmonary fibrosis than among the exposed controls. Rats with preexisting fibrosis had shorter life spans than 239PuO2-exposed control rats. When groups of rats with similar alpha doses to the lungs were compared, the incidences of neoplastic lesions in the lung, the times to death of rats with lung neoplasms, and the risk of lung tumors per unit of alpha dose to the lungs in rats with or without pulmonary fibrosis were similar. The results of this study suggest that humans with uncomplicated pulmonary fibrosis may not be more sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of inhaled 239PuO2 than are individuals with normal lungs, assuming that the total alpha doses to the lungs are similar.

Effects of the Single or Repeated Inhalation Exposure of Syrian Hamsters to Aerosols of 239PuO2

Male Syrian hamsters were scheduled to be exposed by inhalation approximately every 60 days for 1 year (7 exposures) to aerosols of 239PuO2 beginning at 84 days of age. Other hamsters were exposed once when 84 or 320 days of age. Plutonium-239 deposited in the lungs by the repeated inhalation exposures was cleared from the lungs at a rate similar to that following a single inhalation exposure. The incidence of radiation pneumonitis, bronchiolar epithelial hyperplasia, and alveolar squamous metaplasia were the only lesions that were related to radiation dose. Only two primary lung tumours were found among the hamsters exposed to 239PuO2. No primary lung tumours were found in the control hamsters. It was concluded that the incidence of lung tumours was not increased by the protraction of the alpha radiation dose to the lungs from repeated inhalation exposure.

Repeated inhalation exposure of mice to 144CeO2. II. Biologic effects.

Groups of mice (C57Bl/6J strain) were repeatedly exposed by inhalation to aerosols of

Effect of acute ozone exposure on the proteinase—Antiproteinase balance in the rat lung

{}^{144}{\rm CeO}{}_{2}

Repeated inhalation exposure of mice to 144CeO2. I. Retention and dosimetry.

at 60-day intervals for seven consecutive exposures to reestabli...

Repeated inhalation exposure of rats to aerosols of 144CeO2. I. Lung, liver, and skeletal dosimetry.

Lung disease may result from a persisting proteinase excess or a depletion of antiproteinase in pulmonary parenchyma. We investigated the in vivo effect of a 48-hr exposure to ozone at 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 ppm on proteinase and antiproteinase activity of rat lungs. Elastase inhibitory capacities of serum, lung tissue, and airway washings were measured as indicators of antielastase activity. Trypsin inhibitory capacity was measured using an esterolytic procedure. Proteinase was measured as radioactive release from a 14C-globin substrate. The 48-hr exposures to O3 at levels up to 1 ppm produced concentration-dependent decreases of 35-80% of antiproteinase activities in serum and in lung tissue. However, exposure to 1.5 ppm O3 resulted in no decrease in antiproteinase activities. Acid proteinase activities (pH 4.2) were increased 65-120% by exposure to 1 or 1.5 ppm O3, which correlated with inflammatory cells noted histologically. At 1.5 ppm O3, pulmonary edema and hemorrhage were noted in histologic sections. These changes led to a flooding of the alveoli with up to 40 times normal protein levels and a greater than fivefold increase in airway antiproteinase. These data suggest that serum and soluble lung tissue antiproteinase activity decreased upon exposure to low levels of ozone. However, if O3 exposure is high enough to produce pulmonary hemorrhage, antiproteinase may increase following serum exudation. These changes may be important in the development of ozone-induced lung diseases, especially emphysema.

Toxicity of 90Y in Relatively Insoluble Fused Aluminosilicate Particles When Inhaled by Mice

The potential exists for humans to be repeatedly or chronically exposed by inhalation to radionuclides in relatively insoluble forms; however, only limited experimental data are available on the effects of such exposures. Female mice were repeatedly exposed by inhalation at approximately 60-day intervals for 1 year to /sup 144/CeO/sub 2/ to reestablish lung burdens of either 0.2, 1.0, or 4.5 ..mu..Ci of /sup 144/Ce to determine the effect of repeated exposure on /sup 144/Ce retention and dosimetry. The long-term effective retention half-times of /sup 144/Ce in the lung, liver, and skeleton after the last repeated inhalation exposure were similar to those in mice exposed once by inhalation to /sup 144/CeO/sub 2/. A mathematical simulation model was developed as an alternative method of describing the pulmonary clearance of /sup 144/Ce after repeated exposures by inhalation to aerosols of /sup 144/CeO/sub 2/. The cumulative radiation doses to the lungs, livers, and skeletons of the repeatedly exposed mice were similar to those which would have occurred had the total lung burden been achieved by a single exposure. The repeatedly exposed mice also had temporal radiation dose patterns to the lung similar to beagle dogs exposed once.

Effect of inhaled yttrium-90 in fused clay particles on the pulmonary clearance of inhaled Staphylococcus aureus in mice

To develop a better understanding of the influence of cumulative radiation dose and dose rate to the lungs on the biological responses to inhaled radionuclides, several studies are in progress at this institute in which laboratory animals have been exposed once or repeatedly to aerosols of insoluble particles containing 144Ce or 239Pu. In the study reported here, F344 rats were exposed repeatedly to aerosols of 144CeO2 beginning at 94 days of age to reestablish desired lung burdens of 1.9, 9.2, 46, or 230 kBq of 144Ce every 60 days for 1 year (seven exposures). Other 94-day-old rats were exposed once to achieve similar desired initial lung burdens of 144Ce. Older rats were exposed once to achieve desired initial lung burdens of 46 or 230 kBq when 500 days of age, the age of the repeatedly exposed rats when exposed for the last time. Control rats were either unexposed, sham-exposed once or repeatedly, or exposed once or repeatedly to stable CeO2. Approximately equal numbers of male and female rats were used. The cumulative beta-radiation doses to the lungs, liver, and skeleton of rats exposed repeatedly were similar to those of rats with similar total lung burdens of 144Ce from a single inhalation exposure. The average beta-radiation dose rate to the lungs of the rats exposed repeatedly was about one-fifth of that in rats with similar total lung burdens after a single exposure.