Figure 1.

Cell death in groups of animals instilled with saline, milk and 10% meconium. (a) shows percent of dead cells at different time periods after instillation. The number of dead cells after meconium instillation was significantly higher than after saline and milk instillation at all time periods studied (P < .05). (b) shows lavage cell death in animals treated with hypoxia or hyperoxia. There was no statistical difference in the percent of dead cells between hypoxic or hyperoxic conditions. These numbers were negligibly small and comparable to saline-instilled animals.