Reduced tumor necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta1 expression in the lungs of inbred mice that fail to develop fibroproliferative lesions consequent to asbestos exposure.

ABSTRACT: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta mRNA and protein expression and the degree of fibroproliferative response to inhaled asbestos fibers are clearly reduced in the 129 inbred mouse strain as compared with typical fibrogenesis observed in the C57BL/6 inbred strain. The C57BL/6 mice showed prominent lesions at bronchiolar-alveolar duct (BAD) junctions where asbestos fibers deposit and responding macrophages accumulate. The 129 mice, however, were generally indistinguishable from controls even though the numbers of asbestos fibers deposited in the lungs of all exposed animals were the same. Quantitative morphometry of H&E-stained lung sections comparing the C57BL/6 and 129 mice showed significantly less mean cross-sectional area of the BAD junctions in

SUBMITTER: Brass DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1866420 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature