Long-term changes in mouse lung following inhalation of a fibrosis-inducing dose of 239PuO2: changes in collagen synthesis and degradation rates.

Mice were exposed by nose-only inhalation to 239PuO2, which resulted in an IAD of 1110 +/- 29 Bq. At various times after exposure, rates of collagen metabolism were measured using validated in vivo methods based on the administration of radiolabelled proline, together with a large flooding dose of unlabelled proline and measurement of its incorporation into lung collagen as hydroxyproline. Dramatic increases in both synthesis and degradation rates of collagen were observed. At 54 days after exposure the fractional synthesis rates in experimental mice were almost five times those in controls (control: 3.2 +/- 0.6%/day, 239PuO2-exposed: 14.5 +/- 0.4%/day) and by 300 days synthesis rates, although declining, were still more than double the control values. A similar pattern of change was observed for collagen degradation. The combination of changes in synthesis and degradation rates led to a 60% increase in lung collagen content by 300 days (control: 3.05 +/- 0.24 mg/lung, 239PuO2-exposed: 4.88 +/- 0.42 mg/lung). The data suggest that extensive remodelling of the lung connective tissue matrix occurs during development of fibrosis and that, over long periods of time, small imbalances between synthesis and degradation may result in quite large increases in protein content.