Respiratory Pathophysiology and Pharmacology Case Study

Description of Case

The study in question was conducted to determine the mechanisms by which inhaled ultrafine particles are further translated to other areas of the body. The researchers related that "Within hours after the respiratory system is exposed to UFPs, the UFPs may appear in many compartments of the body, including the liver, heart, and nervous system" (Geiser, et al., 2005). Since the means by which the particles are distributed is not entirely understood, the researchers determined to discover the specific pathways that particles take after they leave the lungs. Animal subjects (namely laboratory rats) were used to conduct the study.

Outline of Mechanisms

The authors studied a variety of mechanisms that could be responsible for the subsequent translation, among which possibilities were endocytosis (Morishita & Engebrecht, 2005) and simple migration of the particles across the wall of the cell (which has been...
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