Observations on a model of prolifer- ative lung disease. I. Transpulmonary arteriovenous differences of lactate,...

Intravenous injections of complete Freund's adjuvant, used by others to stimulate the reticuloendothelial system of small laboratory animals, produced granulomas resembling sarcoid in the lung of the dog. At the height of the disease, when granulomas occupied more than half of the alveolar tissues, transpulmonary arteriovenous (A-[unk]V) differences of lactate, pyruvate, and glucose were measured. When the diseased dogs breathed room air, the A-[unk]V differences of lactate and pyruvate were greater than normal; and when the dogs breathed an hypoxic mixture, the differences increased further. Hence the model affords the opportunity for studying the in vivo metabolism of diseased lungs. It may also prove useful for studying other aspects of granulomatous disease which cannot be easily approached in man.