COMPARATIVE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LUNGS OF WISTAR AND SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS
We performed the comparative structural and functional study of the lungs in mature male Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats. The lungs of Wistar rats show higher rates of dry matter and larger volume fraction of connective tissue as well as the number of mast cells and neutrophils. The lungs of Sprague-Dawley rats were characterized by larger volume fraction of lymphoid follicles in the bronchial wall and amount of lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid as well as reduced activity of oxygen-dependent and oxygen- independent systems of phagocytes.