Leukemia Inhibitory Factor and Cellular Renewal in Various Types of Pulmonary Fibrosis in Plutonium Production Workers

This study was aimed to identify types of morphological and functional interactions between the leukemia inhibiting factor and the complex of cellular renewal regulators in the pulmonary structures altered due to various types of fibrosis in individuals occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation. The morphological features of pulmonary fibrosis were examined in biological specimens of lung tissues collected during autopsies (paraffin-embedded tissue sections) from 56 workers who had been diagnosed with plutonium-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PuPF) when they had been alive, 34 workers who had been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis of a different origin (as an outcome of chronic inflammatory pulmonary diseases) (non-PuPF), and 35 workers without any lung disease (controls). A thorough morphological examination of lung tissue specimens for all cases was performed using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Quantification of the IHC observations was carried out with Morphology 5.1 computer image analysis. Markers of cell proliferation, apoptosis, and leukemia inhibitor factor were demonstrated to be associated with the cumulative lung absorbed dose of internal α-radiation.