Evidence for a dose-dependent inflammatory response to quartz in the rat lung and its significance in early changes in collagen metabolism.

The response of the rat lung to a range of doses of quartz at 50 and 100 days after its administration by intratracheal instillation has been assessed by bronchopulmonary lavage. The effects on the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), lymphocytes and macrophages are described. In addition the concentrations of soluble protein and hydroxyproline and the activities of lactate dehydrogenase, PZ peptidase and collagenase in lavage fluid supernatants were measured and an assessment of the hydroxyproline content of recovered cells was made. Finally PZ peptidase and collagenase were assayed in PMN-enriched cell fractions and in samples obtained from short-term culture of recovered macrophages. There was a dose-dependent increase in the recovery of all three cell types, and in the amounts of lactate dehydrogenase, protein and hydroxyproline in lavage fluids, which showed no signs of resolution over the 100-day period studied. Measurements of PZ peptidase and collagenase suggested that the PMN, not the macrophages, are the major source of these degradative enzymes. The relevance of these findings with regard to the importance of PMN in quartz-induced fibrosis is discussed.