THE TRYPSIN-INDUCED LEUCOSTASIS WHICH LEADS TO EMPHYSEMA IN THE HAMSTER IS NOT DUE TO CONTAMINATING ENDOTOXINS

Intravenous injection of trypsin in the rat induces early lung leucost asis and emphysema of delayed onset. This report confirms that this em physema is not rat-specific and that the leucostasis is not related to the presence of contaminating endotoxin in the trypsin. In hamsters ( n=37), leucostasis did not occur when they were injected with heat-tre ated trypsin, but numerous granulocytes were sequestered in the vessel s of hamsters receiving a fresh solution of trypsin. In these hamsters , the number of granulocytes harvested by lavage increased significant ly (1.87x10(6) per mi, P<0.001) compared with hamsters injected with e ither heat-denatured trypsin (0.89) or saline (0.86), or compared with controls (0.86). Emphyserna was inconstantly observed in hamsters 6 o r 12 weeks after injection with trypsin for 1 h. It was frequently (17 /20) present and always (20/20) well developed (intercept+180 per cent ) in the 2-h perfused hamsters whose lungs were abnormally heterogeneo us (index+100 per cent) relative to the seven controls and to the nine saline-injected hamsters. The efficiency of trypsin in triggering emp hysema (percentage of hamsters having abnormal values of intercept) wa s dependent on the time of perfusion. This form of experimental emphys ema is thus considered to be due to an endotoxin-independent leucostas is.