Alveolar cells in cyclophosphamide-induced lung injury. The effect of pentoxifylline on BAL-isolated cells.

The present study provides the evaluation of pentoxifylline (PTXF) effect on quantitative and morphological changes of cells isolated from the lungs by BAL method in animals given cyclophosphamide (CP). CP was administered once, intraperitoneally, on the 7th day of the experiment, in a dose of 150 mg/kg b.w. PTXF was administered in drinking water in a dose of 30 mg/kg b.w./24 h for 14 days of the experiment. Morphological examinations of the isolated cells were performed using the scanning electron microscope (SEM). An attempt to identify type II alveolar epithelial cells was also undertaken. A single CP dose caused a significant rise in the total number of cells isolated from the lungs of the animals 7 days following CP administration. At the same time, a fall was noted in the percentage of neutrophilic granulocytes. No significant quantitative changes were observed in the population of cells isolated after 1, 3 and 28 days following CP administration. PTXF, in doses applied, did not significantly affect quantitative changes and morphological picture of the isolated cells. Our observations suggest that none of the methods applied for identification of type II pneumocytes are completely specific. At the same time they stain type II cells and subpopulations of alveolar macrophages heavily loaded with phagocytized surfactant. However, those methods are simple and enable an approximate evaluation of damage and regeneration processes in the extracellular alveolar lining layer and epithelium.