An Experiment on Age-Related Characteristics of the Reaction of Lung Tissue and Surfactant to Hypobaric Hypoxia and Hyperbaric Hyperoxia

AbstractA comparative analysis of morphometric changes in lung tissue was carried out in an experiment on white rats of different postnatal age (4 weeks, 2 months, and 24 months) with a simultaneous estimation of surfactant stability during exogenous hypoxia and hyperbaric oxygenation. The morphometric indices were studied and the total morphological pattern of lung tissue was described via light microscopy and systemic quantitative analysis, and the stability of the alveolar-lining complex was estimated with the Pattl method. The studies demonstrated that a complex of structural changes develops after a hypo- and hyperoxic effect: heterogeneity and an increase in the airiness of the lung tissue, the width of the interalveolar septa, and the thickness of the bronchial and vascular walls, the degree and severity of which depends on age. An increase in surfactant stability was detected in all animals of the experimental groups, except for 2-month-old rats subjected to a hypoxic effect. A natural increase in morphometric indices was registered with age in intact animals.
Source: Advances in Gerontology - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research