TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of cancer cachexia on the alveolar morphology of the mouse lung JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p3905 AU - Tilman Graulich AU - Suman Kumar Das AU - Gabriela Krasteva AU - Lars Wessels AU - Gerald Höfler AU - Christian Mühlfeld Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3905.abstract N2 - Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome with a significant reduction of body weight and a variety of systemic symptoms including respiratory dysfunction. In rodents, calorie restriction causes loss of alveolar surface area, the so-called nutritional emphysema. We hypothesized that alveolar alterations and loss of gas exchange surface area are present in the cancer-cachectic mouse.C57Bl6 mice were randomly assigned to subcutaneous injection of Lewis lung carcinoma cells (tumor group, TG) or saline injection (control group, CG). Mice were sacrificed 21 days later and lungs were processed for light and electron microscopic design-based stereology (n=6 in each group) or for quantitative RT-PCR (n=5 each).Body weight was reduced in TG vs. CG (TG: 17.4±0.4 g; CG: 22.1±1.0; p<0.01). Lung volume did not differ between TG (518.3±28.2 mm3) and CG (468.3±50.5 mm3). The alveolar surface area was similar in both groups (TG: 602.3±77.7 cm2; CG: 496.2±58.2 cm2). Although the total volume of lamellar bodies did not differ between the groups the volume of lamellar bodies per unit alveolar surface area was significantly reduced in TG (TG: 26.53±3.74 mm3/m2; CG: 40.25±13.05 mm3/m2; p<0.05). Quantitative expression of surfactant proteins A, B, C and D was not different between CG and TG as shown by RT-PCR.In summary, despite a reduced ratio between the volume of the intracellular surfactant pool and the alveolar surface area in TG, there was no evidence for a significant disturbance of the gas exchange region due to cancer cachexia. In particular, weight loss was not associated with loss of alveolar surface area. ER -