The Role of Respiratory Epithelium in a Rat Model of Obliterative Airway Disease

Background: The etiology and pathogenesis of obliterative bronchiolitis after lung transplantation remain to be fully elucidated. Using a rat model of heterotopically transplanted trachea grafts, we have examined the role airway epithelium plays in obliterative airway disease (OAD).

Methods: Rat trachea isografts were denuded of epithelium by protease digestion. Grafts were inoculated either with or without native airway epithelial cells and transplanted into the omentum of recipient animals.

Results: Airway epithelium removal resulted in OAD in denuded isogeneic trachea grafts. Reseeding of the denuded grafts with epithelial cells significantly reduced airway obliteration from 78% to 22% luminal occlusion.

Conclusions: Non-immune-mediated injury will cause OAD, and epithelial cell replacement in denuded isografts can significantly reduce the fibrotic progression of the disease.