Figure 4
A comparison of air/blood barrier injury induced by low, medium and high doses of UFTiO 2 (Panel A) and UFCB (Panel B) at the various post-exposure time points. Comparison of air/blood barrier injury induced by low, medium and high doses of UFTiO2 (Panel A) and UFCB (Panel B) at the various post-exposure time points. Rats were exposed to various mass doses of UFTiO2 (0.26, 0.52, and 1.04 mg/rat) and UFCB (0.047, 0.094, and 0.188 mg/rat) by intratracheal instillation. These mass doses resulted in identical surface area doses (0.0313, 0.0625, and 0.125 cm2/cm2) of UFTiO2 and UFCB. Animals were euthanized at 1 day, 7 days, and 42 days post-exposure, and bronchoalveolar lavage was conducted. Air/blood barrier injury was assessed by measuring BALF albumin levels. Control values of albumin were 0.073 ± 0.033, 0.084 ± 0.003, and 0.098 ± 0.007 mg/ml for the UFTiO2 study and 0.205 ± 0.11, 0.105 ± 0.010, and 0.184 ± 0.016 mg/ml for the UFCB study at 1, 7 and 42 days, respectively. Values are the increases in albumin levels above the BALF control and are given as means ± SEM of 8 rats. * indicates that albumin levels for that group were significantly higher than control (p < 0.05) using ANOVA.