Characteristics of Lung Injury in Rats after Inhalation of Ultradisperse Bacterial LPS in Lipophilic and Hydrophilic...

We compared cellular and tissue reactions of the lungs in Wistar rats after inhalation of LPS from E. coli 0128: B12 in the form of ultradispersion in water-salt phase and lipid phase. The estimated dose of the toxin was 200 mg/kg in both series. The content of LPS and TNF-α in lung homogenates, bronchoalveolar fluid, and blood serum was determined 3, 8, and 24 h after inhalation, morphological changes in the lungs were analyzed. Inhalation of LPS in the lipid phase was accompanied by its less intensive accumulation in the lung tissue and bloodstream, and more pronounced accumulation in the bronchoalveolar fluid as well as less intense release of TNF-α in comparison with the effects of LPS in water-salt phase. Macrophage reaction, leukocyte infiltration of the interalveolar septa, and reduction of α-antitrypsin in the lung tissue was more pronounced in series with inhalation with LPS ultradispersions in water-salt phase and lipid phase, and damage to the alveolar epithelium, in the series with the inhalation of the lipid phase.