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Abstract
Pulmonary emphysema is a common disease1 in which destruction of the lung's gas-exchange structures (alveoli)2 leads to inadequate oxygenation3, disability4 and frequently death1; lung transplantation provides its only remediation. Because treatment of normal rats with all-trans-retinoic acid increases the number of alveoli5, we tested whether a similar effect would occur in rats with emphysema. Elastase was instilled into rat lungs, producing changes characteristic of human2 and experimental6 emphysema: increased lung volume reflecting a loss of lung elastic recoil, larger but fewer alveoli and diminished volume-corrected alveolar surface area due to destruction of alveolar walls. Treatment with all-trans-retinoic acid reversed these changes providing nonsurgical remediation of emphysema and suggesting the possibility of a similar effect in humans.Cite this article
Massaro, G., Massaro, D. Retinoic acid treatment abrogates elastase-induced pulmonary emphysema in rats. Nat Med 3, 675–677 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0697-675 