High cathepsin B activity in alveolar macrophages occurs with elastase-induced emphysema but not with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in hamsters

M. L. Padilla, N. I. Galicki, J. Kleinerman, M. Orlowski, M. Lesser

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    13 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Cathepsin B activity was quantitated in alveolar macrophages obtained from hamsters 10, 21, and 105 days after the intratracheal instillation of porcine pancreatic elastase, bleomycin, or normal saline. Alveolar macrophages lavaged from animals receiving elastase contained significantly higher enzyme levels at 21 and 105 days (16,200 and 17,000 U/mg protein/hr, respectively) as compared with saline-treated animals (12,300 units). In contrast, cells from animals receiving bleomycin showed a decrease in activity at 21 and 105 days (9700 and 9900 units, respectively). At 10 days enzyme levels did not differ significantly. The results suggest that cathepsin B levels in alveolar macrophages reflect differences in lung destruction and connective tissue repair in vivo. In addition, the finding of high cathepsin B activity in animals with emphysema suggests the possibility that cysteine proteases contribute to progressive lung destruction initiated by the intratracheal instillation of elastase.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)92-101
    Number of pages10
    JournalAmerican Journal of Pathology
    Volume131
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 1988

    Keywords

    • Animals
    • Bleomycin
    • Cathepsin B
    • Cricetinae
    • Emphysema
    • Lung
    • Macrophages
    • Male
    • Mesocricetus
    • Pancreatic Elastase
    • Pulmonary Fibrosis
    • Reference Values

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