抄録
The rats were divided into three diet groups : the vitamin E deficient diet (1), the same diet supplemented with vitamin E (2) and supplemented with the multiple vitamins (3). After kept on these diets for 8 weeks, the animals were exposed to 100% oxygen at one atomosphere for given periods and were grouped into the A, B and C, according to the diet groups (1), (2) and (3), respectively, and the non-exposed rats correspondingly the groups AC, BC and CC. After the exposure to oxygen for 40 hours, a reduction in the sulfhydryl groups on the basis of tissue protein was observed in the sediment fraction of the lungs, in particular most markedly in the group A, rather than in the supernatant fraction. No significant differences were observed between the groups B and C. Electron microscopic studies were performed on the lungs exposed to oxygen for 36 and 48 hours, and it was found that pathological findings such as the alveolar hemorrhage, intra-alveolar exudation, intraseptal edema etc. were most prominent in the group A, and least apparent in the group C, the group B being in the middle. The measurement of thickness of the basement membrane between the alveolar epithelial cells and capillary endothelial cells was also made. The thickness of the basement membrane did not show any significant variation among the groups AC, BC and CC. However, if the thickness of the basement membrane was compared between the exposed and the non-exposed in each group, the basement membrane of the exposed was significantly thinner than that of the non-exposed in the groups A and B, in particular in the group A, while in the group C there was no significant difference in the thickness between the exposed and non-exposed.
