Age-sensitive morphologic changes in tracheal organ culture following carcinogen exposure.

This study was designed to assess the differential sensitivity of tracheal explants obtained from female golden Syrian hamsters at 30, 100, or 180 days of age to exposure to crocidolite asbestos or benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Explants were evaluated at 1 or 4 weeks following the initial exposure. Hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia of the mucosal epithelium were observed in exposed explants. Alcian blue-periodic acid-Schiff base stains demonstrated decreased amounts of intracellular acidic mucopolysaccharides in exposed explants. Morphometry supported the qualitative observations that lesions were more severe in tracheas from 30-day-old animals than lesions from the 100- and 180-day-old donor hamsters. Thus, it appears that the age-dependent, early toxic response of the tracheal organ culture model to carcinogens parallels that of animal models.