Experimental infective manganese pneumoconiosis in guinea pigs

Abstract

In order to study the role of an infective factor in the course of manganese pneumoconiosis, guinea pigs were intratracheally inoculated only with Candida albicans, a common commensal of upper respiratory tract of miners, manganese dioxide alone or with the combination of C. albicans and manganese dioxide dust. The histopathological studies revealed that at the termination of the experiment (180 days) the combined effect of dust and organism produced thick reticulin and collagen fibrosis in the lungs, manganese dioxide alone produced fibrotic reaction comprised of only thick reticulin fibers while the organisms alone produced slight lymphoid hyperplasia and no fibrosis. © 1973.