Morphometric changes in rabbit lungs before and after pneumonectomy and exposure to ozone

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Abstract
To determine the effects of the air pollutant O3 on the development of the contralateral lung after pneumonectomy, a study was conducted by use of morphometric techniques utilizing light microscopy and EM. Rabbits (1.4 .+-. 0.2 kg) were randomly placed into 4 groups: control, O3 exposure, pneumonectomy and pneumonectomy plus O3. Animals were exposed to 0.4 ppm O3, 7 h/day, 5 days/wk for 6 wk, 2 wk after pneumonectomy. Lungs were fixed at 20 cmH2O by bronchial instillation of 0.1 M sodium cacodylate-buffered 1.5% glutaraldehyde. Exposure of control animals to O3 resulted in a 15% increase in lung volume (VL). Right lungs, after left pneumonectomy had a 40% increase in VL, a 29% increase in alveolar surface area compared with control right lungs and a 19% increase in mean linear intercept; O3 exposure caused a further 15% increase in VL. O3 or pneumonectomy did not increase the numbers of alveolar pores of Kohn, but pore counts increased with age. Lung growth accompanying pneumonectomy was not compromised under conditions of exposure to O3, and males and females of the same age and body weight gave similar responses as measured by morphometric parameters.