Effect of intratracheal instillation of cadmium chloride on phospholipids in alveolar wash fluid.

The effect of cadmium chloride on phospholipids in the alveolar wash fluid was investigated by instilling the chemical (2.5 micrograms Cd/0.4 ml saline per rat) into rat trachea. Two days later the phospholipid content of the wash fluid increased markedly in the cadmium-treated group to about 2.4 times that in the control (saline-treated) group. The relative amount of phosphatidylcholine and the fatty acid composition of phosphatidylcholine were not altered by the cadmium treatment, and retained a composition typical of lung surfactant. These findings suggest that cadmium induces a marked increase in surfactant phospholipids in the lung at a very low dose.