Lung endocrine-like cells in hamsters treated with diethylnitrosamine: alterations in vivo and in cell culture.

Abstract

Sections of lungs obtained from Syrian golden hamsters treated with the systemic carcinogen diethylnitrosamine showed a significant increase in the number of argyrophilic cells of neuroepithelial bodies. The hyperplastic response was retained at least 4 wk after cessation of treatment. To examine whether these affected cells exhibited enhanced survival in vitro, lung cells were dissociated with Pronase and grown in culture. After 7 argyrophilia, dense-cored vesicles and corticotropin-like immunoreactivity were observed in many of the cells derived from hamsters treated for 5 or 8 wk. The endocrine-like cells of neuroepithelial bodies are affected by diethylnitrosamine as evidenced by a numerical increase in vivo and by the properties exhibited by cells in vitro. The relationship of this diethylnitrosamine-induced reaction to bronchial carcinoid tumors or small-cell carcinoma of the lung remains to be established.