Nihon Ronen Igakkai zasshi. Japanese journal of geriatrics
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Nihon Ronen Igakkai Zasshi · Mar 1991
[Morphological changes accompanying compensatory lung growth after pneumonectomy in rats].
To elucidate morphological change of alveoli in compensatory lung growth, left pneumonectomy was performed on male 4 weeks-old rats (Fischer-344) and light microscopic morphometry, scanning electron microscopic study and histochemistry using anti-bromodeoxyuridine were made. The wet lung weight and lung volume of the residual lungs in the pneumonectomized rats reached the same as those of sham operated rats at one and two weeks after the operation, respectively. ⋯ The data of histochemistry suggest that in pneumonectomized rats the alveoli beneath the pleura (less than 2 mm) included an increased number of S phase cells compared with those of deeper areas. From these morphological changes in the lungs of the pneumonectomized rats it is possible to suggest a hypothesis that stretch stimulation is the first trigger in compensatory lung growth.