Comparative effect of circulating bacterial or nonbacterial particulates on plasma fibronectin: relationship to lung deposition of blood-borne foreign particles.

ABSTRACT

Reticuloendothelial (RE) phagocytic function and plasma fibronectin are altered early after trauma and during septic shock. Since fibronectin-coated particles will tend to aggregate if not efficiently phagocytized, we hypothesized that elevated fibronectin levels during hepatic and/or splenic RE depression could potentiate the lung deposition of blood-borne foreign microparticles. To evaluate this concept, we measured plasma fibronectin, hepatic RE function, and tissue deposition of blood-borne colloids in rats after they were injected with nonbacterial and bacterial particulates. Rats were injected intravenously with gelatin-coated colloids (50 mg/100 gm) to simulate blood-borne collagenous tissue debris after trauma, or with live Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1 X 10(9)/rat) to simulate bacterial entrance into the blood with sepsis, or with both to simulate sepsis after trauma. Phagocytic function was evaluated by liver and spleen uptake of gelatinized 125I RE test emulsion. Fibronectin was quantified by electroimmunoassay. There was an acute 60-80% decrease in plasma fibronectin 2 hr following either colloid or colloid coupled with bacterial infusion. Bacterial infusion alone elicited only a mild 20% decrease in fibronectin by 2 hr. By 24 hr, restoration of fibronectin levels was observed in all groups with hyperfibronectinemia observed in animals challenged with Pseudomonas. Following colloid alone, liver uptake of the RE test particle was acutely depressed at 2 hr in association with an acute depletion of fibronectin, but at 24 hr the RE depression persisted even with normalization of fibronectin. In contrast, with only bacteremia, the rebound elevation of fibronectin was associated with increased hepatic RE function. In rats given both colloid and Pseudomonas, the hyperfibronectinemia (60-100% above controls) at 24 hr coexisted with inadequate liver phagocytic uptake ability. This resulted in a significant 20-fold (P less than 0.05) increment in lung localization of the blood-borne test microparticles. Thus, hyperfibronectinemia without a parallel increase in liver phagocytic ingestive ability may actually enhance lung localization of blood-borne microparticles, which have a high affinity for fibronectin.