Two hundred twenty-six specific pathogenfree male and female F344 rats were exposed to nickel sulfide inhalations for 78 weeks (5 days/wk, 6 hr/day) and observed for an adiditional 30-week period. For the same amount of time, 214 rats were exposed to filtered room air and served as controls. Rats exposed to nickel sulfide showed a significantly higher incidence of pulmonary hyperplastic and neoplastic lesions originating from the bronchial and bronchiloo-alveloar segments. The overall incidence of lung tumors in the animals treated with nickel sulfide was 14 percent compared with 1 percent in the controls. Pulmonary inflammatory reactions were also greatly increased. Injection of an agent (hexachlorotetra-fluorobutane) that induced lung infarction did not increase the proportion of animals having lesions, nor did it alter the type of lesions found in animals exposed to nickel sulfide.

No abstract

Single oral doses of aldrin, dieldrin, and endrin, 1/2 LD50 incorn oil, administered to pregnant golden hamsters on day 7, 8, or 9 of gestationcaused a high incidence of fetal death, congenital anomalies, and growthretardation. The most frequent defects were cleft palate, open eye, andwebbed foot, often occurring in combination. Pregnant CD1 mice given equivalent oral doses of each pesticide on day 9 of gestation showed similar anomalieswithout concurrent increase in fetal mortality or growth impairment.

No abstract

Several studies outline the imbalance of phagocyte functions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this regard, here, we have assessed either monocyte- and polymorphonuclear cell (PMN)-mediated chemotactic, phagocytic and killing capacities or PMN-triggered metabolic pathway in a group of COPD patients before and at different times after thymostimulin administration. Before therapy, an increase of O2-generation and a decrease of myeloperoxidase release were found in these individuals when compared to controls. Moreover, a reduction of either PMN-mediated chemotaxis and killing or monocyte chemotactic capacities was observed. By contrast, no differences were seen in terms of beta-glucuronidase release, monocyte-mediated killing and PMN or monocyte phagocytic function. During a one-year monitoring following immunotherapy, O2- production and myeloperoxidase activity fell within normal values, while phagocyte functional capacities were unaffected by such a treatment. Furthermore, COPD subjects exhibited a significant improvement of their clinical status as assessed during a one-year followup. All together, these findings suggest a potential role for thymostimulin in the treatment of COPD patients.