PERFLUOROCHEMICALS - MORPHOLOGIC CHANGES IN INFUSED LIVER, SPLEEN, LUNG, AND KIDNEY OF RABBITS

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 108  (8) , 631-637
Abstract
Perfluorochemicals have a high affinity for O2 and, therefore, have potential use in circumstances in which conventional blood transfusions are not possible. Histologic changes were studied by light and electron microscopy in liver, spleen, lung and kidney of rabbits, each infused with 20-40 ml of perfluorotributylamine or with lactated Ringer''s solution (controls). Rabbits were killed at 1,2 and 3 wk after infusion. Spleen and liver showed the most marked alterations. Spleen architecture was distorted with focal infiltration by foamy macrophages. EM showed macrophages containing small and large, membrane-bound vacuoles. In the liver, Kupffer''s cells were enlarged, with eccentric nuclei and vacuolated cytoplasm. Hepatocytes contained occasional perfluorochemical particles. In the lung, intimal cells were swollen in the muscular arteries. In alveolar septae, perfluorochemical particles could be identified ultrastructurally in the alveolar phagocytes and in the endothelium of capillaries. Kidney changes were more subtle, with occasional foam cells seen within the mesangium. The number of vacuoles did not decrease with time in any of the organs examined. Therefore, perfluorotributylamine particles are retained in vital organs; the effects these particles may have on normal tissue function need further evaluation.

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