Interestitial lung disease

Normal outbred adult Wistar rats were resistant to infection with intratracheally administered viable spores of Aspergillus fumigatus although although they developed a subacute interestitial pneumonia. While the lesions were more severe in animals immune suppressed with Azathioprine (immuran) there was no evidence of hyphal growth in the pulmonary tissue. Significant histological involvement was found only in those animals receiving repeared subcutaneous injections of cortisone and multiple intratracheal injections of spores...

Immunologic factors have been incriminated in the pathogenesis of lymphoid interstitial pneumonia. The discovery of a patient with coexistent lymphoid interestitial pneumonia, pernicious anemia, and common variable hypogammaglobulinemia focused attention on the possible autoimmune nature of this pulmonary disease. Extensive immunologic studies demonstrated a noticeably impaired bonemarrow-dependent (B cell) system and intact thymus-dependent (T cell) system. No evidence of humoral or cellular hypersensitivity to homologous lung determinants was found...