Ultrastructural study of pulmonary bleomycin toxicity.

Ultrastructural manifestations of bleomycin A2 toxicity in the human lung were studied in three patients. In addition to the appearance of nucleolar fibrillar centers, an increase in membranous, beaded, and granular nuclear bodies was found in nuclei of type 1, type 2 alveolar epithelial cells, and interstitial fibroblasts in all treated patients. Few such nuclear bodies were found in specimens of untreated patients.