[A contribution to the pathogenesy of letal paraquat poisoning (author's transl)]

Case reports of severe lung damage in patients treated with oxygen following paraquat poisoning lead the autors to design an experiment, in which the contributory role of oxygen was tested. It was shown on rats that administration of oxygen in paraquat - intoxicated rats causes, already in the LD50/20 dosage of paraquat, death in all experimental animals during the first 24 hours. Light and electron microscopic examination revealed edema, desquamation of alveolar epithelium with cell destruction of typ I and Typ II pneumocytes and total denudation of the alveolar basement membrane. Alveolar macrophages participated in the removal of the cellular debris. The toxic substance itself was not detectable in the blood of the rats 24 hours or later after the oral application.