TY - JOUR
T1 - Amiodarone-induced pulmonary fibrosis in hamsters
AU - Cantor, J. O.
AU - Osman, M.
AU - Cerreta, J. M.
AU - Suarez, R.
AU - Mandl, I.
AU - Turino, G. M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Sanofi Pharmaceuticals for their generous gift of amiodarone. These studies were facilitated by the Grants HL 15832 and HL 26496 from the U.S. Public Health Service.
PY - 1984
Y1 - 1984
N2 - Amiodarone, a cardiac antiarrhythmic agent, has been associated with the development of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis in patients receiving prolonged therapy with the drug. To further assess the toxic effects of amiodarone on lung tissue, Syrian hamsters were given a single intratracheal insufflation of the agent and evaluated for histologic evidence of lung injury. Control animals received intratracheal insufflations of the vehicle in which amiodarone was dissolved. After an initial, transient alveolitis in both experimental and control animals, the amiodarone-treated lungs developed increased interstitial thickening due to fibrinous exudates, alveolar epithelial hyperplasia, inflammatory cell infiltrates, and marked deposition of collagen manifested on trichrome staining. Controls, in contrast, showed nearly complete resolution of the initial alveolitis. An unusual feature of the amiodarone-induced lung injury was reemergence of the alveolitis between 5 and 14 days, which included a marked influx of eosinophils into the lung. Although the precise mechanism of the lung injury is not known, the persistence of the acute inflammatory cells as well as the presence of eosinophils suggests a hypersensitivity-type reaction. Furthermore, the progression of lung injury to fibrosis after a single insult with the drug suggests that mere discontinuation of amiodarone therapy in humans may not reverse the disease process, but that corticosteroid therapy may also be required. Amiodarone appears to be a useful agent to induce diffuse fihrotic reactions in the lung that morphologically resemble idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in humans.
AB - Amiodarone, a cardiac antiarrhythmic agent, has been associated with the development of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis in patients receiving prolonged therapy with the drug. To further assess the toxic effects of amiodarone on lung tissue, Syrian hamsters were given a single intratracheal insufflation of the agent and evaluated for histologic evidence of lung injury. Control animals received intratracheal insufflations of the vehicle in which amiodarone was dissolved. After an initial, transient alveolitis in both experimental and control animals, the amiodarone-treated lungs developed increased interstitial thickening due to fibrinous exudates, alveolar epithelial hyperplasia, inflammatory cell infiltrates, and marked deposition of collagen manifested on trichrome staining. Controls, in contrast, showed nearly complete resolution of the initial alveolitis. An unusual feature of the amiodarone-induced lung injury was reemergence of the alveolitis between 5 and 14 days, which included a marked influx of eosinophils into the lung. Although the precise mechanism of the lung injury is not known, the persistence of the acute inflammatory cells as well as the presence of eosinophils suggests a hypersensitivity-type reaction. Furthermore, the progression of lung injury to fibrosis after a single insult with the drug suggests that mere discontinuation of amiodarone therapy in humans may not reverse the disease process, but that corticosteroid therapy may also be required. Amiodarone appears to be a useful agent to induce diffuse fihrotic reactions in the lung that morphologically resemble idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in humans.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0021315298&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/01902148409087891
DO - 10.3109/01902148409087891
M3 - Article
C2 - 6734540
AN - SCOPUS:0021315298
SN - 0190-2148
VL - 6
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Experimental Lung Research
JF - Experimental Lung Research
IS - 1
ER -