Fs. Rosenthal, Aerosol probes of lung injury in a 28-wk longitudinal study of mild experimental emphysema in dogs, J APP PHYSL, 86(2), 1999, pp. 725-731
After baseline measurements of lung mechanics, effective air space diameter
(EAD), and aerosol dispersion (AD), three dogs were exposed to two treatme
nts of aerosolized papain (3 mi of a 4%;, solution), and measurements were
repeated during a 28-wk follow-up period. EAD and AD were measured with bol
uses of 0.7-mu m particles of di-2-ethylhexl sebacate, with Pen (i.e., volu
metric bolus penetration/total lung capacity) between 0.1 and 0.4. After pa
pain exposure, EAD increased a mean of 28% (P < 0.0001) and AD (Pen = 0.3,
0.4) increased 4-7% (P < 0.03). The progression of injury was indicated by
increasing trends in total lung capacity (P < 0.05), residual volume (P < 0
.05), and EAD (P = 0.06) through week 28. There was no evidence of disease
progression between weeks 18 and 28, whereas some of the data for individua
l dogs suggested partial recovery from lung injury at week 28. The results
show that aerosol probes can detect and characterize mild lung injury in ex
perimental emphysema.