| Abstrakt: |
Detection of acute lung injury is important if therapeutic medical countermeasures are to be used to reduce toxicity in a timely manner. Indicators of injury may aid in the eventual treatment course and enhance the odds of a positive outcome following a toxic exposure. This study was designed to investigate the effects of a toxic exposure to the industrial irritant gas phosgene on the electrolyte levels in arterial blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Phosgene is a well-known chemical intermediate capable of producing lifethreatening pulmonary edema within hours after exposure. Four groups of 40 Crl:CD1(ICR)BR male mice were exposed whole-body to either air or phosgene at a concentration × time (c × t) amount of 32-42 mg/m³ (8-11 ppm) phosgene for 20 min (640-840 mg·min/m³). BALF from air- or phosgene-exposed mice was taken at 1, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, or 72 h postexposure. After euthanasia, the trachea was excised, and 800 µl saline was instilled into the lungs. The lungs were washed 5×. Eighty microliters of BALF was placed in a cartridge and inserted into a clinical i-STAT analyzer. Na[sup +], Cl[sup -], K[sup +], and ionized Ca[sup 2+] were analyzed. Arterial blood electrolyte levels were also analyzed in four additional groups of air- or phosgene-exposed mice. The left lung was removed to determine wet weight (WW), an indicator of pulmonary edema. Na[sup +] was significantly higher in air than in phosgene-exposed mice at 4, 8, and 12 h postexposure. Temporal changes in BALF CI[sup -] in phosgene mice were not statistically different from those in the air mice. Both Ca[sup 2+] and K[sup +] were significantly higher than in the air-exposed mice over 72 h, p ≤ .03 and p ≤ .001 (two-way analysis of variance, ANOVA), respectively. Significant changes in BALF K[sup +] and Ca[sup 2+] occurred as early as 4 h postexposure in phosgene, p ≤ .005, versus air-exposed mice. Over time, there were no significant... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
