Table 3.

Histologic lesion scores of lungs from rats receiving endotracheal bleomycin (BL) in the absence (group C) and presence of treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC; group D)

	Inflammation		Fibrosis
	Severity	Extension	Severity	Extension
3 days postexposure
Drug vehicle+bleomycin	2.40±0.24	2.20±0.20	Nil	Nil
NAC+bleomycin	1.80±0.20*	1.60±0.24*	Nil	Nil
15 days postexposure
Drug vehicle+bleomycin	2.00+0.32	2.20±0.37	2.40±0.24	2.80±0.20
NAC+bleomycin	1.67±0.21	1.83±0.17	1.50±0.22*	2.00±0.26*

Lung sections from bleomycin-injured rats were coded and then blindly scored for inflammation and fibrosis. Lung inflammation was scored in tissue sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin on a scale of 0 – 4. Lung fibrosis was scored in trichrome-stained sections on a scale of 0 – 4. Data are means±s.e.m. of five to six animals per group.

^*P<0.05 from the corresponding group exposed to bleomycin without NAC.