Effect of lung collapse on compensatory lung growth

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Abstract
The effect of unilateral lung collapse on compensatory lung growth was studied in 3 wk old (young) and 10 wk old (adult) male Long-Evans rats. Under light halothane anesthesia, left lung collapse was produced by injection of dental plastic through a tracheostomy cannula. The rats were killed either 5 days or 4 wk later. At 5 days postcollapse, the 3 wk old rats had an increase in DNA over sham controls (21%) (P < 0.05), with no significant change in the protein/DNA ratio. At 4 wk postcollapse, increases in DNA over sham-operated controls were observed in both the 3 wk old (58%) and the 10 wk old (28%) rats, whereas the protein/DNA ratio at both ages was significantly less than that of sham controls (P < 0.05). Unilateral lung collapse stimulates growth of the contralateral lung by cellular hyperplasia, not hypertrophy, both in the young and adult rat. The hyperplasia begins within 5 days after collapse and is greater by 4 wk. The extent of hyperplasia is greater in the young than in the adult rat.

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