THE EFFECT OF COMMON SCLEROSING AGENTS ON THE RABBIT PLEURAL SPACE

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
New Zealand white rabbits received intrapleural instillations of tetracycline (7, 20 and 35 mg/kg), HCl (0.01 N), quinacrine (10 mg/kg), nitrogen mustard (0.2 mg/kg), bleomycin (1.5 mg/kg) or NaOH (0.5%). All sclerosing agents produced a neutrophil-predominant, exudative pleural effusion within 12 h of instillation. By 48 h the pleural fluid was predominantly mononuclear. Despite the large pH range of the sclerosing agents (tetracycline, 2.0; NaOH, 13.0), the pleural fluid pH was always between 7.40-7.49 during the 144 h observation period. There was no difference in protein concentration, leukocyte count or neutrophil differential with the 3 different doses of tetracycline or the 5 other sclerosing agents. Autopsies at 30 days showed that only the 35 mg/kg dose of tetracycline produced pleural symphysis. The common sclerosing agents produce a similar type of pleural effusion, but only tetracycline leads to pleural fibrosis; this effect appears to be dose-dependent. The pH of the sclerosing agent per se probably has little effect on the development of pleural symphsis.