Intratracheal Bleomycin Aerosolization: The Best Route of Administration for a Scalable and Homogeneous Pulmonary Fibrosis Rat Model?

Figure 4

Evolution of pulmonary histopathological alterations after BLM aerosolization. (a) Trichrome Blue staining in sham animals and 3, 7, 14, 21, and 56 days (3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d, and 56 d) after bleomycin (BLM) aerosolization. Collagen is stained in blue and cells in red. Magnification: 100x. (b) Left panel: peribronchial lesions are present at late time-points (days 14, 21, and 56) as after BLM instillation. Right panel: destructive lesions are observed at days 14 and 56. (c) Average number of cells per mm² lung surface in sham animals (in white) and 3, 7, 14, 21, and 56 days after BLM aerosolization (in grey). (d) Quantification of lung fibrosis using a modified Ashcroft score in sham animals (in white) and 3, 7, 14, 21, and 56 days after BLM aerosolization (in grey; per time-point). (c) Sham versus every other time-points; : 14 d versus 3 d and 21 d; ANOVA one way followed by Duncan’s test. (d) early (3–7 d) versus late (14 to 56 d) time-points; ANOVA one way followed by a Duncan’s test.

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