Figure 4.

Injury markers in BALF of rat lungs after instillation of 1.5 and 0.5 μm Fe₂O₃ particles (in vivo study). Healthy WKY rats were intratracheally instilled with 1.5 μm or 0.5 μm Fe₂O₃ particles, respectively, at a dose of 1.3 mg/kg body weight and 4.0 mg/kg body weight. At 24 h after instillation pulmonary injury was assessed in the BALF of control and exposed rats. Protein (A) and albumin levels (B) in BALF were determined as markers for vascular permeability, and LDH activity (C) as marker for cytotoxicity. The data are given as mean ± SD with (n = 6) representing 6 animals for each dose and type of particles. * P-value (> 0.05) for significant difference between saline control and Fe₂O₃ particle exposed rats.