In recent years significant progress has been witnessed in the identification of
stem cells, which have now also been identified in the lungs. The aim of this was
to induce post-pneumonia alveolar regeneration to facilitate the identification
of stem cells. The studies were performed on Buffalo strain rats. Pneumonia was
induced in the animals by a sub-pleural injection of carragenin. On days 4, 5 and
10 of the experiment both the control and experimental animals received intraperitoneal
injections of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Twenty-four hours after the
last BrdU injection the rats were sacrificed and samples of the lungs were taken
for examination. In order to detect proliferating cells in the paraffin sections,
BrdU incorporation was detected with monoclonal antibodies. In pilot experiments
BrdU incorporation was demonstrated in individual alveolar cells of variable
distribution and of variable intensity in the colour reaction. The results have
confirmed the existence of stem cells in pulmonary alveoli but their closer characterisation
requires further studies with other techniques to detect pulmonary
stem cells
