Experimental Acute Pulmonary Edema in the Rat

Abstract

In order to evaluate the role of Bordetella pettussis vaccine in ozone mortality, a series of nine experiments was performed in which groups of rats were exposed to ozone for a four-hour period. Various treatment groups included rats that had been thymectomized or splenectomized and/ or sensitized with B pertussis, histamine-sensitizing factor (HSF), or heated preparations of these agents. Some groups were also given atropine and reserpine. Both pertussis vaccine and HSF were found to increase mortality when compared with controls. Mortality was reduced slightly when animals were given heated preparations of these agents or were splenectomized. Thymectomizing the animals was found to have no effect. Both atropine and reserpine reduced ozone mortality, but neither reduced the amount of edema found in the lungs in initial stages of experimental acute pulmonary edema.