Intratracheal administration of platelet-activating factor (paf-acether) induced transient bronchoconstriction in baboons. Using an automated isotopic monitoring system, we found that intratracheal administration of paf-acether also elicited transient accumulation of platelets labeled with 111In oxine within the pulmonary vasculature after the increase in maximal peak inspiratory pressure. Bronchoalveolar eosinophilia were inhibited by prophylactic administration of the antiasthma drug ketotifen but not by pyribenzamine, suggesting that the effects of ketotifen are unrelated to H-1 receptor antagonism. Platelet accumulation was not affected by ketotifen or pyribenzamine. This study suggests that paf-acether may be a mediator of the eosinophil recruitment in bronchial asthma and that inhibition of this phenomenon by ketotifen may contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of this drug.

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The use of labelled radiopharmaceuticals such as metaiodobenzylguanidine (m-IBG) enables neuroblastomas and other malignant cells from neural crests to be visualized. In vitro study of cellular incorporation into human neuroblastoma lines (SK-N-SH, SK-N-MC, LAN I) showed that only the SK-N-SH line retained iodine-125 m-IBG (125I-m-IBG) significantly. Fifty-five percent of the initial activity was retained after 1 hr incubation at a concentration of 10(-7) M of m-IBG (specific activity: 1,480 MBq/mg). Beyond this value, m-IBG uptake mechanisms were saturated. Study of release kinetics showed a rapid first phase (50% released after 4 hr) and a slower second phase (30% of the value retained at the equilibrium point was present after 48 hr), indicating the existence of a storage compartment. Autoradiography studies confirmed the intracytoplasmic localization of m-IBG and showed that a low percentage (3 to 5%) of SK-N-SH cells strongly retained m-IBG. Cytotoxicity tests showed that SK-N-SH cell growth was significantly reduced during the first days of culture, following 2 hr incubation with 1,500 KBq of 125I-m-IBG, whereas no toxic effect on SK-N-MC cells was found at the same activity. Moreover, the toxic effect observed in the SK-N-SH line was clearly related to the use of 125I-m-IBG since the same activity of 1,500 KBq of non-coupled 125I was without effect. For the latter line, colony-forming capacity was reduced for activities of 150 and 1,500 KBq of 125I-m-IBG, with respectively 32% and 38% lower survival rates. The cytotoxic effect of labelled m-IBG was, however, limited in non-saturating concentrations because the specific activity used was too low. Moreover, the low number of cells reconcentrating m-IBG is indicative of the heterogeneous cellular composition of the SK-N-SH line.

The solubility of two industrial forms of beryllium, i.e. particles of metal powder and particles of hot-pressed beryllium, was investigated using in vivo and in vitro models. In the in vivo model, baboons and rats were used and were injected via the trachea with amounts of beryllium equivalent to 100, 500 and 1000 fold the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) recommended by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In vivo experiments showed that in both species the daily beryllium solubility rates were about 5 x 10-6 for metal particles and that in rats the daily beryllium solubility rate was about 5 x 10-5 for the hot-pressed particles. During the 10 months of the experiment with baboons, urinary excretion of beryllium was proportional to the amount administered. With regard to results for the in vitro models, the outcome of the acellular dissolution test using a serum simulant was not consistent with the in vivo results, though a cellular model using cultured macrophages showed the same trends in the dissolution rates for the two forms of beryllium as those observed in vivo. This result suggests that a cellular rather than an acellular dissolution model would be better at predicting solubility of beryllium compounds in the lungs.