NITRIC-OXIDE EFFECTS ON LUNG STRUCTURE AND BLOOD-OXYGEN AFFINITY IN RATS

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 13  (5) , 629-644
Abstract
Two month old Wistar rats were exposed continuously for 6 wk, either to 2.0 .+-. 0.1 ppm NO mixed homogeneously with air for tests, or to ambient air for controls. Oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve (ODC), erythrocytic variables, methemoglobin [MetHb] (MetHb) concentration and lung structure, particularly through EM studies, were investigated each week of exposure. The hemoglobin affinity for oxygen was not modified, probably as a result of both pH and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) stability. MetHb formation was not found in treated rats. The few ultrastructural alterations found under EM may not prove to be NO-induced since they were found similarly in both groups. Slight emphysematous changes were found only in 1 .mu.m thick sections of lungs from NO-treated rats.

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