THE RESPONSE OF THE LOWER RESPIRATORY TRACT OF MICE AND HAMSTERS TO CHRONIC INHALATION OF OZONIZED GASOLINE FUMES: A LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPICAL STUDY *
- 1 July 1972
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Annals of Occupational Hygiene
- Vol. 15 (2) , 263-269
- https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/15.2-4.263
Abstract
Mice and hamsters were exposed for 15–18 months to synthetic smog. As a result of this chronic exposure, epithelial atrophy developed in the peripheral bronchioles of mice. Simultaneously, “bronchiolization” of alveoli bordering on the terminal bronchioles occurred. The cells lining the altered alveoli were identified by electron microscopy as typical bronchiolar cells. Bronchiolo-alveolar pores were identified, through which bronchiolar epithelial cells appeared to “migrate” into the alveoli. Similar histological changes were also seen in the area of the respiratory bronchioles in smog-exposed hamsters. We propose that colonization of alveoli with bronchiolar cells via bronchiolo-alveolar pores or via the open connections in the region of the respiratory bronchioli (depending on the species) is one morphogenetic mechanism of alveolar “bronchiolization”.Keywords
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