A Study of the Pathogenesis of Chronic Pulmonary Disease (Bronchiectasis) of Old Rats

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Abstract
In previous experiments on rats it was demonstrated that retardation of growth increased the life span and decreased the frequency of disease in general. Extension of this study to the chronic [pneumonia of rats has demonstrated that the lungs are maintained in a relatively youthful state and the onset and progress of the disease are delayed. Chronic pulmonary disease of rats appears to be an inflammation of bronchial branches, possibly of bacterial origin, which leads to obstruction of bronchi by mucopurulent exudate. Distal bronchi and alveoli become distended with exudate and ultimately form cystic cavities lined with bronchial epithelium and filled with mucus. Humidity, temperature, and dust content of the atmosphere do not influence the frequency of the disease. Thickening and narrowing of the bronchi by accumulation of lymphoid tissue in the submucosa and increasing distensibility of the pulmonary alveoli appear to predispose to the disease. The accumulation of lymphoid tissue is less extensive and the resistance to inflation is greater in the lungs of the retarded rats than in the control group. Chronic pneumonia in rats, although inflammatory in nature, is comparable to arteriosclerosis in man as a chronic progressive disease with advanced manifestations in old age, but with origin in younger life. Both tend to limit the life span if it is not terminated earlier by more acute diseases.

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