The Composition of Lung Lipids After Poisoning with Paraquat

The composition of the lung lipids from animals poisoned with paraquat 2 days and 6 days after treatment has been compared with that from controls. After 6 days, but not after 2 days, there was a large increase in the proportion of arachidonic acid and a small increase in the cholesterol ester fraction. No differences were seen in the phospholipid fractions examined. Analysis of the lipids of peritoneal and alveolar macrophages has shown that the changes in the lungs can be mainly attributed to the increase in numbers of alveolar but not peritoneal macrophages.