Study of the effects of ozone in emphysematous rats

The effects of short-term exposure to ozone on control and elastase-induced emphysematous rats were examined to investigate whether emphysema would change the pulmonary susceptibility to oxidant air pollution. Emphysema was induced in rats after a single intratracheal instillation of 0.2 IU elastase/g body weight. Histologically, panacinar emphysema was apparent at 2, 4, 8, and 16 wk, that is, the total duration of the experiment. The diagnosis was confirmed by morphometry: the mean linear intercepts (MLI) of elastase-treated rats were significantly increased at all observation times, whereas the internal surface areas (ISA) of the elastase-treated rats were significantly decreased. In addition, pulmonary function tests provided supportive evidence for the diagnosis of emphysema. Respiratory system compliance and functional residual capacity showed a significant increase in elastase-treated rats. No differences in inspiratory capacity or in forced vital capacity between control rats and elastase-treated rats were observed. The above data are indicative for a rat model for elastase-induced emphysema. Short-term exposure to ozone of elastase-treated rats revealed panacinar emphysema, including an inflammatory response in the centroacinar region. No differences in MLI as well as in ISA between ozone-exposed rats (with or without emphysema) and their respective controls were observed. Short-term exposure to ozone induced an identical, significant increase in protein content, lactate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in lungs of normal and emphysematous rats. Moreover, these results strongly suggest that emphysematous rats are not more susceptible to ozone than nonemphysematous rats.