Chrysotile asbestos inhalation induces tritiated thymidine incorporation by epithelial cells of distal bronchioles.

Previous studies in a rat model of asbestosis have demonstrated increased incorporation of tritiated thymidine by bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells 19 to 72 h after a single, 5-h exposure to chrysotile asbestos. This increase in thymidine labeling occurred at the first alveolar duct bifurcations, where terminal bronchioles end and where asbestos deposition is most concentrated. To determine whether airways more proximal than the terminal bronchioles exhibit a similar type of proliferative response to asbestos, incorporation of tritiated thymidine by airway epithelial cells was determined by light microscopic autoradiography. Incorporation by the epithelium in regions of the trachea, mainstem bronchi, and bronchioles was measured in lung tissue from sham-exposed and chrysotile asbestos-exposed rats, zero and 33 h after exposure. Sham-exposed animals and those studied immediately after exposure exhibited no increases in tritiated thymidine incorporation at any airway level. Tritiated thymidine incorporation by epithelial cells of bronchioles in peripheral regions of the lungs was significantly increased, as much as 20-fold, 33 h after chrysotile exposure. In the same asbestos-exposed animals, epithelial cells of the trachea, the bronchi, and the larger bronchioles did not exhibit increased cell labeling. The fact that asbestos was deposited throughout all airway levels, yet increased thymidine incorporation is observed primarily in the peripheral bronchiolar regions, raises interesting questions regarding the mechanisms of asbestos-induced cell proliferation.