| dc.description.abstract | Numerous morphological studies on diverse aspects of the organisation of the
mammalian lung notably in respect to structure, development, response to irritants
and functional demands are currently available. Some of the most recent accounts
and reviews on these aspects are those by Weibel (1973, 1984), Sorokin & Brain
(1975), Breeze & Wheeldon (1977), Weibel & Gil (1977), Grant, Sorokin & Brain
(1979), Pinkerton et al. (1982), Thurlbeck (1982), Hirai, Uyeda & Ogawa (1984),
Gehr (1984), Brown, Bliss & Longmore (1984), Lechner (1985), Maina (1985), Burri
(1985) and Winkler & Cheville (1985). Recently the lungs of the non-human primates
have received special interest (Carstens & Allen, 1969; Kapanci, Weibel, Kaplan &
Robinson, 1969; Kaplan, Robinson, Kapanci & Weibel, 1969; Davies & Reid,
1970; Wang & Thurlbeck, 1970; Greenwood & Holland, 1973; Castleman,
Dungworth & Tyler, 1975; Kerr & Helmuth, 1974; Kerr, Couture & Allen, 1975;
Boyden, 1977; Hislop, Howard & Fairweather, 1984; Wilson, Plopper & Hyde,
1984; Tyler & Plopper, 1985). This is largely due to the notion that the non-human
primates, when compared with the other mammalian experimental animals, constitute
in most biological aspects a better model for the study of human pulmonary
structure, function and pathology (Lapin, 1971; Bourne, 1973). Morphometric
methods are particularly effective in studying and evaluating the organisation of the
biological tissues as they are sensitive enough to reveal remarkably small structural
and developmental changes which otherwise would go undetected by qualitative
observations. These techniques have been applied to the lungs of the non-human
primates by Kapanci et al. (1969), Kaplan et al. (1969), Conradi et al. (1971) and
Hislop et al. (1984) to evaluate developmental and experimental situations such as
breathing pure oxygen and inhalation of beryllium. As observed ,by Castleman et al.
(1975), studies of the tissues of the non-human primates, in view of their potential
utilisation in human biological investigations, are few in number. For example, the
most extensive morphometric studies illustrating the structure and the gas exchange
potential of the primate lung are apparently those on the human lung by Gehr,
Bachofen & Weibel (1978) and the macaque monkey (Macaca irus) by Conradi et al.
(1971).
The present study examines the lung of the olive baboon (Papio anubis) in an
attempt to find out whether its pulmonary organisation is any different from that of
the lungs of the other non-human primates and man. The gas exchange structural
characteristics of the baboon lung are compared with those of the other primates
as far as available data allow. | en |
