CUTANEOUS HISTOPATHOLOGIC FEATURES IN WEANLING PIGS AFTER EXPOSURE TO3 DIFFERENT DOSES OF LIQUID SULFUR MUSTARD

Sulfur mustard (2,2' dichlorodiethyl sulfide, HD) is a chemical warfar e agent that is easily produced, and may be used against civilian popu lations as well as against military troops. However, good therapeutic and prophylactic measures await a better understanding of the pathophy siology of lesions produced by this agent. Because the skin remains is one of the principal routes for HD exposure and damage, the study of HD-induced skin lesions is of major interest. Blister formation is a c haracteristic of HD-induced skin lesions in humans. Attempts have been made to find an animal model that produces cutaneous microblisters af ter exposure to the naturally occurring liquid as well as vaporized HD . Weanling pigs were exposed to three different doses of liquid HD. Hi stopathologic findings showed microblister formation as well as variab le apoptosis and/or necrosis of epidermal keratinocytes and vascular e nodthelium. Pig skin is morphologically similar to human skin. In the pig, the epidermal lipids, the density of hair follicles, the presence of sweat glands, the proliferation kinetics, and the antigenicity are all closer to human skin than are rodent models. All these features m ay be important in lesions induced by HD, and may mean that the pig is a superior model for studying the pathophysiology of HD-induced cutan eous lesions.