Rapidity of compensatory lung growth following pneumonectomy in adult rats

The rapidity with which lung growth was initiated following pneumonectomy was investigated using rats (330 g) in which lung weight-to-body weight ratio and lung cell size had stabilized. Following removal of the left lung, right lung weight increased from 823 to 1.161 mg within 7 days. Right lung weight in sham-operated animals did not change significantly. At day 7, right lung weight-to-body weight ratio in pneumonectomized rats was equal to that of both lungs in sham-operated animals; these values remained equal through day 14. Growth of individual lobes of the right lung was generally in proportion to their initial weights. Dry-to-wet weight ratio in either lung of sham-operated or pneumonectomized animals was unchanged, as compared to unoperated controls. Total right lung RNA and protein increased significantly by day 2 and reached levels equal to those in both lungs of sham-operated animals by day 7. Synthesis of lung proteins, estimated during 120 min of perfusion in situ, was elevated 25% on day 3. Incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA increased somewhat on day 2 and was elevated fourfold on day 3, corresponding with the initial accumulation of total DNA within the lung. These observations suggested that increased cell size may accompany early compensatory growth following pneumonectomy, but that the major portion of the response involved cellular hyperplasia.