Enhanced clearance of silica from mouse lung after instillation of a leukocyte chemotactic factor

It has been suggested that increased recruitment of phagocytes and subsequent clearance of particles may follow instillation of a leukocyte chemoattractant to lungs containing silica. The present study quantitated serially the silica content in alveolar spaces, in lung tissue and in hilar lymph nodes of mice that received 2 mg silica only, compared to a group that also received 100 micrograms intratracheal chemotactic factor N-formyl-L-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP) at 2 and 3 weeks after silica. These mice showed a supplemental increase in alveolar macrophages and neutrophils, and an increase in silica was measured in lavaged cells and fluid soon after FMLP injection. At all times to 16 weeks, the silica content of lung tissue was significantly lower in mice that also received FMLP, and in this group, pulmonary fibrosis was much reduced, as shown morphologically and biochemically. In addition, there was reduced translocation of silica to lymph nodes in FMLP-treated mice. The results indicate that induction of a controlled inflammatory response in the alveoli at a time when particles are present in the pulmonary interstitium can accelerate clearance by increasing phagocyte traffic to the alveoli. The subsequent reduction in particle content of the lung is associated with a lower level of pulmonary fibrosis.