Studies on pulmonary tissue after administration of mutein VI-HREC TNF-alpha into implantable experimental Morris hepatoma.

Experiments were carried out on Buffalo rats with implantable Morris hepatoma 5123 growing in the skeletal muscles of the limbs. Mutein VI (a protein which differs from the native TNF-alpha molecule in its N-terminal amino acid composition) was administered at a dose of 10 micrograms per rat once a day in a cycle of 8 days. Control animals were given saline (PBS). Ultrastructural changes within the pulmonary tissue were evaluated with an electron transmission microscope (TEM), with special attention paid to endothelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells. Quantitative analysis of neoplastic metastases to the lungs was carried out. The animals given mutein VI compared to those injected with PBS demonstrated a decrease in the number of metastases. TEM pictures showed accumulations of eosinophilic granulocytes and monocytes in the lumen of the blood vessels. Enhanced activity of endothelial cells was observed. In pulmonary alveoli conglomerates of fibrin, and fragments of damaged cells were found, with erythrocytes, granulocytes and macrophages in their vicinity. The epithelium of pulmonary alveoli showed signs of considerable damage, including necrosis. The mutein VI-hrec TNF-alpha was found to block the neoplastic process, illustrated by a reduction in the volume of lung parenchyma occupied by neoplastic metastases. Also, the ultrastructural changes observed in the pulmonary tissue indicate the possibility of peripheral action of mutein VI after its administration to rats carrying the Morris hepatoma.