Preliminary study on damage of pulmonary alveolar macrophages in rats inhaled 239PuO2

The results concerning damage of pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM) in rats inhaled 239PuO2 aerosols are described. 26 rats were divided into 4 experimental groups and one control group. The rats were killed on the 2rd, 7th, 13th and 28th day after inhalation, respectively. The PAM were obtained by lung lavaging, then damage of PAM was observed. The mean absorbed doses of PAM nucleus in rats inhaled 239PuO2 were 0.95, 2.21, 1.71 and 3.23 Gy, while the mean absorbed doses of lungs were 0.69, 1.69, 1.21 and 2.55 Gy, respectively. The dose ratio between PAM nucleus and lung was about 1.3. The results indicate that percentages of neutrophils in lung lavages in the rats whose mean absorbed doses of PAM nucleus was 3.23 Gy increased significantly, it shows occurrence of inflammation in these lungs. Their ability to phagocytize carbon particles were much lower than that of control. The proliferative functions of PAM in rats of 4 groups inhaled 239PuO2 were evidently inhibited