Induction of intra- and extra-cellular phospholipids in the lungs of rats exposed to silica.

Intracellular and extracellular compartments of phospholipids in the lungs of rats were examined 28 days after intratracheal injection of silica (200 mg/kg). All compartments containing phospholipids were elevated, but the largest increases were seen in the intracellular and extracellular pulmonary surfactant. Intracellular pulmonary surfactant increased 123-fold from 1.18 +/- 0.65 to 144.9 +/- 53.8 and the extracellular surfactant increased 22-fold from 1.17 +/- 0.04 to 25.1 +/- 7.1 mg per pair of rat lungs respectively. The phospholipid composition of intracellular and extracellular surfactant did not change in response to silica, except for an almost 2-fold increase in the percentage of total phosphatidylinositol in both compartments. The phospholipid content of the lungs increased from 24.9 +/- 4.6 to 268.6 +/- 20.8 mg, with the intracellular and extracellular surfactant accounting for 59.1 and 24.6% of this total increase respectively. These data demonstrate that the major increases in the phospholipid content of the lungs induced by silica is associated with the pulmonary-surfactant system.