Mast cell heterogeneity and hyperplasia in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis of rats.

The distribution, density, and histochemical subtype of mast cells were studied in the respiratory tract of rats with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. In normal rats, mast cell densities were highest in the trachea and lowest in the bronchus and parenchyma. Two histochemically distinct mast cell populations were identified in the mucosa adjacent to the tracheal cartilage, but elsewhere only a single population of typical connective tissuelike mast cells was found. After intratracheally administered bleomycin, lung histamine levels (micrograms/g wet weight) increased as much as 14-fold by Day 50. Pulmonary mast cell changes were present early in the fibrotic process, and by Day 14 the mast cell density in the parenchyma was 10 times normal. These parenchymal mast cells were histochemically of the connective tissue type. Thus, pronounced mast cell hyperplasia occurs during the evolution of experimental pulmonary fibrosis. This model provides a powerful tool to study pulmonary mast cells and to identify their role in fibrotic disease.