Pneumonologia i alergologia polska
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Pneumonol Alergol Pol · Jan 1996
[Bacterial endotoxins produced by Alcaligenes faecalis and Erwinia herbicola as potential occupational hazards for agricultural workers].
Laboratory animals (guinea pigs and rabbits) were exposed to the inhalation of aerosolized endotoxins derived from the cell mass of Alcaligenes faecalis and Erwinia herbicola, the Gram-negative bacteria commonly occurring in organic dusts. Single 1 hour-lasting exposure caused the significant increase in the number of free lung cell, mostly lymphocytes, compared to the control group exposed to saline (P < 0.001). Prolonged exposure to tested endotoxins (Fifteen 1 hour-lasting exposures every second day) caused both specific and non specific immunological changes: enhanced inhibition of leukocyte migration production of precipitins, and activation of alveolar macrophages, wes assessed by greater antibacterial activity and increased interleukin I (IL-I) production. The results indicate that the endotoxins of examined bacteria represent a potential risk of inflammatory lung reaction and respiratory disease for agricultural workers inhaling organic dusts contaminated with these organisms.
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Pneumonol Alergol Pol · Jan 1996
[The influence of organic dust on the chemotaxis of lung cells. Experimental studies].
Mechanisms of chemotaxis of alveolar macrophages (AMs) and neutrophils (PMNs) in response to microbial products derived from organic dust were studied using blindwell chemotaxis chamber technique. Seven different agents (extract and endotoxin of Erwinia herbicola, extracts from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris and Aspergillus fumigatus, thermophilic protease and two preparations of glucans), were used for experiments. ⋯ The generation and release of this activity by AMs may provide a mechanisms for the initiation and amplification of inflammatory reactions in the lung after inhalation of organic dust. Results of these in vitro studies may be relevant to the pathogenesis of alveolitis in organic dust-induced lung diseases.