Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of type 2 cell proliferation, and specifically mitosis, on the surfactant system after lung injury. Lung injury was produced in mice with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The LB volume density and the LB area of tritiated thymidine (3H-T) labeled and mitotic type 2 cells were determined by combining light microscopic autoradiography with electron microscopic morphometry. Over a 48-hr period, the LB volume density of proliferating (3H-T- labeled) type 2 cells decreased from 20.7% to 7.6% (p < 0.001) and the LB area per cell decreased from 9.1 to 2.4 μm2 (p < 0.001). These changes were closely related to type 2 cell mitosis, since the LB volume density decreased from 19.2% to 2.9% (p < 0.001) and the LB area per cell decreased from 9.1 to 1.7 μm2 (p < 0.01) between prophase and telophase, but they were independent of the time elapsed since injury. These results indicate that mitosis influenced the LB content of type 2 cells after lung injury and suggest a previously unrecognized link between cell division and the surfactant system of the lung.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 434-443 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | The Journal of laboratory and clinical medicine |
Volume | 102 |
Issue number | 3 |
State | Published - Sep 1983 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine