Resolution of increased permeability pulmonary edema in rats

The rate and sequence of interstitial and alveolar fluid removal from the lung after the occurrence of pulmonary edema were examined. Rats were given intraperitoneal injections of 20 mg/kg alpha-naphthylthiourea (ANTU), resulting in an increased permeability edema with alveolar flooding. Animals were killed at intervals between 2 and 48 hours after ANTU for the gravimetric determination of extravascular lung water (Qwl/dQl) and histologic study of the lung. Interstitial fluid volume was quantified by a morphometric technique. The assumptions were made that edema fluid equaled the experimental Qwl/dQl minus the normal Qwl/dQl, and that the edema fluid volume equaled the sum of interstitial and alveolar fluid volume. It was found that between 2 and 4 hours after the induction of pulmonary edema, fluid was removed from the alveolar space faster than it was removed from the interstitial space. Between 4 and 48 hours after ANTU, the fluid removal rate from both compartments was much slower, and interstitial fluid was removed at a faster rate than alveolar fluid. It is hypothesized that the later phase of fluid removal from the lung is dependent on the removal of protein.