[Abnormalities in bronchial permeability after induction of a chronic SO2 bronchopathy in rat (author's transl)]

Our aim was to study the effects of a chronic exposure to SO2 on the permeability of bronchial epithelium in the rat, in vivo and in vitro, in relation with a marker (ferritin). The anatomical lesions observed in light and electron microscopy considerably increased the passage of ferritin both in vivo and in vitro through the epithelium of trachea and primary bronchi. This increase was still found although more discrete three months after the end of exposure while the histological appearance returned to normal. Those results showed that SO2 induces in upper airways functional abnormalities persisting beyond the necessary lapse of time for the repairing of histological lesions which could therefore intervene in the pathogeny of chronic bronchopathies.