Acute lung response to amosite asbestos: a morphological study.

The acute morphological response to amosite asbestos in the guinea pig was studied by light microscopy and by transmission, scanning, and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Fiber identification was carried out by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Animals were studied at postinjection intervals of 2, 4, and 12 hr and 1-7 days. Three groups of test animals were studied for each time interval. These consisted of a vascularly perfused parenchymal group and a free cell lavaged group. The information obtained was compared with saline-injected and normal control animals. The acute tissue response was characterized by intraalveolar, not interstitial, events. The early phagocytic response was shared between polymorphs and macrophages, while in the longer intervals, the macrophages were the phagocytic cell type. Packaging differences within the two types of phagocytes were seen. Endothelial stability was noted, while some edematous type I pneumocytes were observed. Fibrotic involvement was limited to some intraalveolar fibrin deposits. It is suggested that the term "free asbestos fibers" refers to an extracellular event, while intracellular fibers are coated with either a membranous sheath, a siderosome, or a classical ferruginous coating.