Interspecies comparison and postnatal development of alveolar interstitial cell lipid bodies

Einleitung: The septa of the pulmonary alveoli contain a population of interstitial cells that are rich in lipid bodies. It is well known that these cells occur in mice and rats but their presence in the human lung is controversially discussed. The present study addresses the following questions: 1. Which species possess alveolar lipofibroblasts? 2. What is the amount of lipid bodies in the respective species? 3. How much lipid bodies are present in postnatal mouse lung development? Methoden: For this purpose, lung samples from 12 adult mammalian species (Etruscan shrew, mouse, rat, guinea pig, rabbit, dog, goat…