Alveolar dimensions and number: developmental and hormonal regulation.

We used three-dimensional reconstruction 1) to determine the effect of treating rats with dexamethasone, from age 4 to 13 days, on alveolar volume (v) and number (Na) and 2) to determine if v, Na, or both change between age 14 and 60 days. At age 14 days, v, Na, and gas exchange surface area (Sa) were (2.7 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) microns3, (20.2 +/- 2.1) x 10(6), and 832 +/- 29 cm2, respectively, in diluent-treated rats; in dexamethasone-treated 14-day-old rats the same parameters were (7.5 +/- 1.1) x 10(4) microns3, (9.9 +/- 1.6) x 10(6), and 733 +/- 16 cm2, respectively. At age 60 days, v, Na, and Sa were (7.1 +/- 0.4) x 10(4) microns3, (60.8 +/- 4.1) x 10(6), and 4,495 +/- 187 cm2 in diluent-treated rats and in rats treated with dexamethasone from age 4 to 13 days, v, Na, and Sa at age 60 days were (15.9 +/- 2.4) x 10(4) microns3, (25.8 +/- 3.8) x 10(6), and 3,424 +/- 203 cm2. We conclude that treatment with dexamethasone from age 4 to 13 days (the period of normal septation) resulted in larger alveoli at age 14 and 60 days, and in diluent- and dexamethasone-treated rats the increase in Sa between age 14 and 60 days is due, at least in part, to the formation of new alveoli.