Abstract
Summary
Ventilatory functions were studied in four groups of rats, two groups of conventional rats and two groups of germ-free rats. A control and an exposed group were employed for each type. The exposures were 10 mg/m3 of bituminous coal for 120 days. The pulmonary function parameters included: inspiratory capacity, vital capacity, forced expiratory volumes in 0.5 and 1.0 sec, peak expiratory flow rate, and flow maximas at 25 and 10% of the vital capacity. The coal-exposed rats, both conventional and germfree, exhibited significantly lower responses for the flow maxima at 10% of the vital capacity when compared to the corresponding control groups. However, such differences in germfree rats were more clearly distinguishable because of the small intragroup variability. This work presents evidence that airway obstruction occurs in rats as a result of a coal dust exposure alone.
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