The Journal of clinical investigation
-
The overall objective of these studies was to determine whether IgG antibody to Pseudomonas aeruginosa would modify the acute lung and pleural injury that developed over 24 h after the instillation of 10(10) live P. aeruginosa into the distal airspaces of one lung in unanesthetized sheep. Using a quantitative experimental model to measure protein permeability across the alveolar epithelial, lung endothelial, and pleural mesothelial barriers, the effect of IgG antibody to P. aeruginosa was examined under four different experimental conditions. First, the effect of IgG antibody to P. aeruginosa in the circulation was examined by instilling 10(10) live P. aeruginosa in 5% ovine albumin in sheep that had been vaccinated. ⋯ Therefore, the fourth protocol examined the prophylactic effect of instillation of the specific IgG antibody to P. aeruginosa 24 h before instillation of the bacteria. With this prophylactic regimen, epithelial, endothelial, and pleural injury were prevented, and there was a significant decrease in the number of bacteria recovered from the lung. Thus, delivery of IgG antibody to P. aeruginosa the distal airspaces of the lung alone may provide a novel therapeutic approach to preventing acute pulmonary infection caused by P. aeruginosa.