Retention of inhaled particles in hamsters with pulmonary fibrosis

Aerosol retention was studied in hamsters 30, 60, and 90 days after the initiation of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis by a combination of bleomycin (bleo), 0.16 U/100 g body weight given intratracheally, and O2, for 72 h. Groups of bleo-O2-treated and control animals were exposed (awake) for 25 min to a 99mTc-labeled insoluble aerosol (activity median aerodynamic diameter, 0.45 micron; geometric standard deviation, 1.3). Within 5 min after exposure, the hamsters were killed and their lungs were excised and dried at total lung capacity, and sliced into 1-mm sections. Slices were dissected into pieces, and an evenness index (EI) was calculated for each piece (formula: see text). With uniformity of retention, all Els would be 1. The distribution of Els in control animals had a mean of 1.0 and a SD of 0.27; 0% of the Els were less than or equal to 0.20. Total retention diminished and was less uniform in bleo-O2-treated animals. At 30 days, the SD increased to 0.62, and 6% of the Els were less than or equal to 0.20. At 60 and 90 days, nonuniformity decreased but was still greater than that in the control animals (SD60 = 0.42, SD90 = 0.36). When examined histologically, individual pieces with low Els had more disease than those with high Els. Local decreases in compliance caused by fibrosis may have altered regional ventilation and retention. Our data also correlate with the progression of fibrosis from a focal lesion at 30 days to a more diffuse lesion at 90 days.