Transient pulmonary fibrogenic effect induced by intratracheal instillation of ultrafine amorphous silica in A/J mice

In order to evaluate the degree of pulmonary fibrosis and to identify the fibrogenic mechanisms induced by ultrafine amorphous silica (UFAS), UFAS suspensions (∼50 μl) were instilled intratracheally into A/J mice at doses of 0, 2, 10 and 50 mg/kg (n = 5 per group). Mice were sacrificed at 24 h, 1, 4 and 14 weeks after exposure. Gomori’s trichrome staining revealed that UFAS induced severe alveolar epithelial thickening and pulmonary fibrosis at 1 week, though animals almost recovered at 4 and 14 weeks. The mRNA and protein levels of cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-γ), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-9 and MMP-10) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in lung tissues were significantly elevated at 24 h and 1 week post-treatment, though these levels decreased to near the control range at 4 and 14 weeks except IFN-γ and MMP-2. These results demonstrate that UFAS can induce pulmonary fibrosis in the same way as crystalline silica. However, the degree of fibrosis observed was transient. This study shows that cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-γ), MMPs (MMP-2, MMP-9 and MMP-10) and TIMP-1 play important roles in the fibrosis induced by the intratracheal instillation of UFAS.