MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN ALVEOLAR MACROPHAGES OF GUINEA PIGS IN THE EARLY AND LATE STAGES OF EXPERIMENTAL OVALBUMIN-INDUCED ALLERGIC INFLAMMATION

Abstract

To date, the morphological changes in alveolar macrophages of the lungs in conditions of allergic inflammation in the chronobiological aspect have not been sufficiently studied, despite the fact that they play an active role in the histophysiology of allergic inflammation. The aim of this work is to study morphological changes in alveolar macrophages of guinea pigs in the early and late stages of experimental ovalbumin-induced allergic inflammation. Material and methods. Using histological, morphometric, electron microscopic and statistical methods, the lungs of 48 male guinea pigs were studied in conditions of experimental ovalbumin-induced allergic inflammation. The ultrastructural changes in alveolar macrophages in the dynamics of the experimental allergic inflammatory process and their mean number per unit area of 10000 μm2 were determined. Results. The fact of an elevation in the functional activity of alveolar macrophages against the background of a statistically significant increase in their mean number in the early stages of the development of the allergic inflammatory process was revealed. We observed ultramicroscopic changes in alveolar macrophages, indicating the development of their functional overload in the late stages of the development of allergic inflammation. Conclusions. We demonstrated an elevation the mean number (3 times compared with the control p*/**<0.001) and functional activity of alveolar macrophages in ovalbumin-sensitized and challenged guinea pigs, confirmed at the ultramicroscopic level, in the early stages of the allergic inflammatory process. We revealed the renewal of the number of alveolar macrophages to normal parameters and the development of their functional “exhaustion” in the late stages of the allergic inflammatory process.

Keywords

• alveolar macrophage
• experimental allergic inflammation
• ovalbumin
• guinea pig.