Toxicity of sulphur mustard in adult rat lung organ culture.
The toxicity of the chemical warfare agent sulphur mustard, (bis-(2-chloroethyl)sulphide, HD), was examined in adult rat lung organ cultures. Assessment of HD-induced damage by the MTT cytotoxicity assay indicated that the median lethal concentration (LC50) of HD in these cultures was reproducible, and in the microM range. Damage to the lung slices was expressed only after a latent period of 48 h and did not increase significantly with longer expression times. Histopathological examination of HD-treated lung cultures showed that the structural changes in the lung tissue paralleled the toxicity measured biochemically, and were also similar to the damage found in animals and man exposed to HD in vivo. This in vitro model offers a useful tool with which to study the toxicity and mechanism of action of sulphur mustard.
Sawyer
T W
TW
Medical Countermeasures Section, Defence Research Establishment Suffield, Alberta, Canada.
Wilde
P E
PE
Rice
P
P
Weiss
M T
MT
D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002618:Chemical Warfare; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000633:toxicity*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013194:Staining and Labeling
D009151:Mustard Gas