Cardiopulmonary effects in awake rats four and six months after exposure to methyl isocyanate

Cardiopulmonary function was assessed four and six months after Fischer 344 rats were exposed to 2 hr to 0, 3, or 10 ppm methyl isocyanate (MIC). During assessment, the rats were challenged with 4 and 8% carbon dioxide (CO2) to stimulate ventilatory drive. Minute ventilation (VE) during CO2 challenge was increased in MIC-treated rats compared to controls when examined 4 months after exposure to 10 ppm MIC, suggesting a ventilation/perfusion inequality. An increase in maximum expiratory flow and a decrease in expiratory time indicated increased lung recoil in these rats. Evidence of pulmonary hypertension was observed in electrocardiograms (ECGs) and supported by postmortem analysis that showed a positive association between increased ECG abnormalities and increased right ventricular weights in the rats treated with 10 ppm MIC. At 6 months, forced expiratory flow-volume curves indicated persistent airway obstruction; however, no changes in inspiratory or expiratory resistance were evident. Decreased dynamic compliance and changes in two new measures of lung function (volume and time at zero expiratory intrapleural pressure) suggest that MIC-induced lung dysfunction also exhibited elements of a restrictive disease.