A germ-free status does not protect from the lethal effects of acute lung damage caused by O,S,S,-trimethyl phosphorodithioate.
To investigate whether a normal resident microbiological flora of conventional rats influences the lethality of chemical-induced lung damage, the pneumotoxin O,S,S-trimethyl phosphorodithioate (OSSMe, 75 or 100 mg/kg, s.c.) was administered to age-matched conventional and germ-free male F344 rats. Microbiological and serological examinations confirmed the germ-free state of the germ-free rats and showed that no specific lung pathogens were present in the conventional rats. As in conventional rats, clinical symptoms and death of OSSMe-treated germ-free rats resulted from respiratory failure. The germ-free rats were not more resistant, but rather more susceptible to OSSMe than conventional rats. Increases in lung weight and histological examination of lung tissue 3 days after dosing with OSSMe (75 mg/kg, s.c.) showed no differences between germ-free and conventional rats. Despite alterations in their nasopharyngeal flora, death in the conventional rats was probably not caused by bacterial superinfection. The higher susceptibility of germ-free rats to OSSMe can be partly attributed to pharmacokinetic differences, since plasma levels of OSSMe decreased more slowly in germ-free than in conventional rats. It is concluded that germ-free rats are not protected from the lethal consequences of acute chemical-induced lung damage.
D000818:Animals; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D063086:Organothiophosphates / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D009946:Organothiophosphorus Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
D063086:Organothiophosphates; D009946:Organothiophosphorus Compounds; C033125:O,S,S-trimethyl phosphorodithioate