Changes in the lungs of lambs after intratracheal injection of lipopolysaccharide from Pasteurella haemolytica A1

Summary

Ten lambs aged 8 weeks were inoculated intratracheally through the tracheal wall with lipopolysaccharide from Pasteurella haemolytica A1 and examined in chronological sequence by light and electron microscopy for pulmonary lesions. An acute fibrinopurulent pneumonia was produced, which resolved within 72 h but bore many resemblances to field cases of pneumonic pasteurellosis. Sequestration of neutrophils in the capillaries of the lungs and aggregation of surfactant in the alveoli occurred rapidly, followed by swelling of the alveolar and capillary endothelia, oedema, haemorrhage, and emigration of neutrophils into the interstitium and small air spaces of the lungs. Necrosis of isolated neutrophils was a constant feature. Alveolar, interstitial and intravascular macrophages and lymphoid cells increased slowly to become the predominant inflammatory cells at 72 h. A surprising feature was the transient appearance of multinucleated cells in the lungs at 2 and 6 h after inoculation. It is concluded that lipopolysaccharide makes a major contribution to the pathogenesis of P. haemolytica infection in the lungs of sheep.