Gloria DeCarlo Massaro

Changes in Sedimentation of Surfactant in Ventilated Excised Rat Lungs: PHYSICAL ALTERATIONS IN SURFACTANT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND REVERSAL OF ATELECTASIS

We ventilated excised rat lungs at a constant tidal volume (CTV); they developed areas of atelectasis which could be reversed by a large inflation (CTV + I) or prevented by the addition of positive end-expiratory pressure to the CTV. To explore the possibility that these modes of ventilation led to changes in surfactant, we lavaged the lungs and centrifuged the returns at 500 g; we measured the amount of disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) in the resultant pellet and supernatant fluid as a marker for surfactant. We found 16.9+/-1.5 (mean+/-SE), 38.0+/-2.4, 18.3+/-1.6, and 21.7+/-2.3% of the total lavage DSPC, in the pellet from freshly excised, CTV, CTV + I, and positive end-expiratory pressure to the CTV lungs, respectively. The total amount of lavage DSPC was the same in all groups. The ultrastructure of acellular material pelleted by sequential centrifugation of lavage returns at 500, 1,000, and 60,000 g was examined. We found mostly tubular myelin in the 500-g and 1,000-g pellets, but no tubular myelin in the 60,000-g pellet. Air inflation pressure-volume measurements from the degassed state revealed that the opening pressure and recoil pressures up to 75% of total lung capacity were significantly higher in the CTV than in the CTV + I lungs. There were no differences between these groups in air deflation or in saline inflation and deflation pressure-volume measurements. Our findings suggest that CTV leads to increases in the tubular myelin form of surfactant and that this leads to increased surface tension in alveoli which results in alveolar collapse.

Evaluation of the Pressor, Cardiac, and Renal Hemodynamic Properties of Angiotensin II in Man

These data demonstrate that in normal subjects angiotensin II is 10 times as potent as norepinephrine, which it resembles hemodynamically. An increase in the systolic pressure is associated with significant increase in diastolic pressure, increase in venous pressure, decrease in heart rate, slight decrease in cardiac output with striking increase in total peripheral resistance, decrease in renal blood flow, decreased glomerular filtration rate, increase in filtration fraction, arid slight decrease in urinary volume. Preliminary studies of patients in shock suggest that angiotensin II is two or three times as potent as norepinephrine. Continuous administration is not associated with the development of resistance or tachyphylaxis, nor does sloughing of tissues occur when there is leakage outside the vein.

Regulation of secretion in Clara cells: studies using the isolated perfused rat lung.

Previous studies from our laboratory indicated that both beta-adrenergic and cholinergic agents stimulate in vivo secretion by rat bronchiolar Clara cells. Those studies also provided support for an in-series beta-adrenergic-cholinergic stimulation of secretion. To further explore the regulation of secretion in Clara cells, and to do it in the absence of systemic influences, we have used the isolated ventilated perfused rat lung. We have again used morphometry and electron microscopy to assess secretion by measuring the volume density (fraction of cell volume) of the secretory granules of bronchiolar Clara cells. We found that in the isolated perfused lung, as in the intact animal, isoproterenol stimulated secretion in Clara cells and that this effect was blocked by the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol. Pilocarpine, unlike its action in the intact animal, did not stimulate secretion in the isolated lung; rather it inhibited the secretory effect of isoproterenol. Increased tidal-volume ventilation stimulated secretion; propranolol did not block this effect. Analogs of cyclic (c)AMP and of cGMP also stimulated secretion by Clara cells. These findings indicate that there are at least two mechanisms by which Clara cells can be stimulated to secrete. One seems to be beta-adrenergic-cAMP mediated but the triggering event is unknown. The other is initiated by increased tidal volume and cGMP may be involved in the intracellular mediation of this stimulatory event. Finally, we found evidence of beta-adrenergic (stimulatory) -cholinergic (inhibitory antagonism in the regulation of secretion in Clara cells.

Exposure of rats to ozone: Evidence of damage to heart and brain

Ozone is a strong oxidizing agent, and in many locations it is a major atmospheric pollutant. It is phytotoxic and an important cause of lung dysfunction in humans. Recently, a significant association has been established between total atmospheric oxidants, of which ozone is one, and daily cardiovascular mortality rates. In this article, we show that exposure of rats to ozone for 5 days, in a concentration found in major urban centers, results in an increased concentration of thiobarbituric acid-reactive material (an indicator of lipid peroxidation) in heart and brain tissue as well as elevated activity of catalase and glutathione peroxidase (enzymic scavengers of peroxides) in these tissues. We examined the heart anatomically and found evidence of extracellular and intracellular edema. These findings indicate that the heart and brain are damaged by a concentration of ozone present in major urban centers; they may have important implications for chronic illness and degenerative processes in humans.

Gene Expression of Cellular Retinoid-Binding Proteins: Modulation by Retinoic Acid and Dexamethasone in Postnatal Rat Lung

In rats, septation of gas-exchange saccules occurs during the first 2 postnatal weeks; dexamethasone (DEX) treatment irreversibly impairs septation, and treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (RA) prevents the DEX-induced inhibition of septation. Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein I (CRABP I) and cellular retinol-binding protein I (CRBP I) are important modulators of the cellular metabolism of retinoids. In the present study, therefore, we measured the mRNA concentration of CRABP I and CRBP I in lungs of neonatal rats. In untreated rats, CRABP I and CRBP I mRNA peaked at postnatal d 8, indicating that CRABP I and CRBP I are developmentally regulated at least in part at a pretranslational level during lung septation. Daily treatment of 3-to 8-d-old rats with RA (500 µg/kg/d) had no effect on the level of CRABP I mRNA; treatment with DEX (0.25 µg/d) from d 4 to 8 caused a decrease in CRABP I mRNA that was not prevented by concomitant treatment with RA. These findings suggest that a decrease in CRABP I expression may be important in the DEX-induced block of septation but not in the prevention by RA of DEX-induced inhibition of septation. RA treatment caused an increase of CRBP I mRNA; conversely, treatment with DEX caused a decrease in CRBP I mRNA that was prevented by concomitant treatment with RA. These data suggest CRBP I may play a role in RA-induced septation, in the inhibition of septation caused by DEX, and in the ability of RA to prevent DEX-blocked septation.

Lung development, lung function, and retinoids.

In this issue of the Journal, Checkley et al. report that, in a region with endemic vitamin A (retinol) deficiency, children whose mothers had received vitamin A supplementation before, during, and...

Apoetm1Unc mice have impaired alveologenesis, low lung function, and rapid loss of lung function

Diminished lung function, indicated by a low forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and short physical stature, predict early mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular, among smokers and never smokers. The basis for these associations is unclear, and, it is not known if there is a pulmonary morphological component to the relationship between low FEV1 and early death in a general population. Some apolipoprotein E genotypes also predict atherosclerosis and early mortality. These considerations led us to examine the Apoe(tm1Unc) (Apoe) mouse, in which the apolipoprotein E gene is deleted, and that develops dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis at an early age, and has a shorter life span than the founder wild-type (wt) strain. We asked if Apoe mice have a morphological or functional pulmonary phenotype. We measured the size, number, and surface area of pulmonary gas-exchange units (alveoli) and mechanical properties of the lung. Compared with wt mice, Apoe mice had: 1) diminished developmental alveologenesis, 2) increased airway resistance in early adulthood, 3) high lung volume and high dynamic and static compliance in later adulthood, 4) more rapid loss of lung recoil with age, and 5) were less long than wt mice. These findings in mice indicate the association of a low FEV1 with early death in humans may have developmental, and accelerated ageing, related pulmonary components, and that dietary, genetic, or dietary and genetic influences, on lipid metabolism may be an upstream cause of inflammation and oxidative stress, currently considered to be major risk factors for COPD.

Expression of lung uncoupling protein-2 mRNA is modulated developmentally and by caloric intake.

Lung expresses a high concentration of uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2) mRNA, but neither its pulmonary regulation nor function is known. We measured lung UCP-2 mRNA expression in two animal models: in neonatal rats when both the metabolic rate, as measured by oxygen consumption, and levels of serum free fatty acids (FFAs) increase and in adult mice during decreased food intake, when levels of serum FFAs increase but the metabolic rate decreases. In rat lung, the concentration of UCP-2 mRNA was low and unchanged during late gestation, increased approximately twofold within 6 hrs after birth, and, compared with late gestation, remained approximately threefold higher from day 1 to adulthood. The early postnatal rise in the lung UCP-2 mRNA concentration was partially blocked by an antithyroid drug and was increased by treatment with triiodothyronine. Unlike lung, heart UCP-2 mRNA levels were lower during adulthood than at day 15. In adult mice, lung UCP-2 mRNA concentrations increased approximately fivefold within 12 hrs of 67% calorie restriction (CR), remained elevated during 2 weeks of CR, fell to control levels within 24 hrs of refeeding (CR-RF), and positively correlated with serum FFA concentrations. Heart UCP-2 expression during CR and CR-RF was similar to that of lung; liver UCP-2 mRNA levels were slightly lower during CR and returned to control levels during CR-RF. These data suggest that the regulation of UCP-2 is at least partly tissue-specific and that, in the adult mouse, lung UCP-2 is regulated not by oxygen consumption but by FFAs. Moreover, lung UCP-2 mRNA levels in mice fed ad libitum was increased by the intraperitoneal administration of Intralipid, a 20% fat emulsion. On the basis of these data in adult mice, together with the findings of others that levels of FFAs increase by 2 hrs after birth, we propose lung UCP-2 is regulated by FFA.

Adaption to Hyperoxia: INFLUENCE ON PROTEIN SYNTHESIS BY LUNG AND ON GRANULAR PNEUMOCYTE ULTRASTRUCTURE

We studied the influence of prolonged exposure to hyperoxia (O(2) > 98%) on protein synthesis and on the ultrastructure of the granular pneumocyte. To study protein synthesis, as indicated by l-[U-(14)C]-leucine incorporation into protein, lung slices were incubated with radioactive leucine and a surface-active fraction was obtained by ultracentrifugation of lung homogenates. We found that, following an initial depression in protein synthesis after 48 h of hyperoxia, protein synthesis in rats exposed to oxygen for 96 h rose to greater than control levels. This increase in protein synthesis was noted in whole lung protein and in protein present in the surface-active fraction. Stereologic ultrastructural analysis of granular pneumocytes revealed that the lamellar bodies occupy the same percentage of cytoplasmic volume in oxygen-exposed and control rats after 96 h; a previous study had shown lamellar bodies of oxygen-exposed rats to occupy less volume than those of control rats after 48 h of exposure at which time protein synthesis was also depressed. After 96 h of exposure there is a greater amount of rough endoplasmic reticulum in the granular pneumocytes of oxygen-exposed rats. These studies show that after 96 h of hyperoxia the lung has recovered its ability to synthesize protein including protein in the surface-active fraction and that these biochemical changes are associated with consistent ultrastructural alterations in the granular pneumocyte.

Studies on the Regulation of Secretion in Clara Cells with Evidence for Chemical Nonautonomic Mediation of the Secretory Response to Increased Ventilation in Rat Lungs

Using electron microscopy and morphometric methods to assess secretion, we previously found that two times tidal volume ventilation of isolated perfused rat lung stimulates secretion by bronchiolar Clara cells; this effect is not prevented by beta-adrenergic blockade (J. Clin. Invest. 1981. 67: 345-351.). In this study we used the isolated perfused rat lung and the anesthetized mechanically ventilated rat, to further study the mechanism by which large tidal volumes stimulate secretion by Clara cells. With the perfused lung we found (a) alpha-adrenergic inhibition did not block the secretory effect of ventilation at two times normal tidal volume; (b) indomethacin completely blocked the secretory action of two times tidal volume ventilation; (c) medium previously used to perfuse lungs ventilated at two times tidal volume, but not medium previously used to ventilate lungs at normal tidal volume, stimulated secretion by Clara cells when used to perfuse fresh lungs ventilated at tidal volume; (d) addition of prostacyclin to the fresh perfusate increased secretion by Clara cells of lungs ventilated at normal tidal volume. In anesthetized mechanically ventilated rats, sighs stimulated secretion by Clara cells; this increased secretion was inhibited by indomethacin but not by cholinergic blockade (bilateral vagotomy). These studies indicate that increased volume ventilation stimulates secretion by Clara cells in vivo and in vitro; they provide evidence that chemical nonadrenergic, noncholinergic mechanisms are involved in this secretion, and that prostaglandins may be the chemical messenger coupling the mechanico-secretory events.