Abstract
Summary
Subplantar injections of Freund's complete adjuvant (M. butyricum) were used to induce a typical adjuvant polyarthritis in rats. The lungs of the arthritic rats exhibited histological and biochemical changes characteristic of an emphysema-like condition. The lung pathology included markedly enlarged alveoli and septal fibrosis as well as numerous granulomatous foci. Serum trypsin inhibitory capacity was reduced. An adjuvant prepared with E. coli in place of M. butyricum failed to induce either polyarthritis or emphysema-like changes. Neither the polyarthritis nor the lung pathology was as severe in rats treated simultaneously with M. butyricum and the immunosuppressant, cyclophosphamide, as in rats treated with M. butyricum alone. The data thus suggest that inappropriate immunological responses to M. butyricum antigens may be related to the production of the pulmonary disease as well as the polyarthritis.
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