Nonneoplastic lesions in the lungs

This chapter reviews the nonneoplastic lesions in the lungs of aging specific-pathogene-free (SPF) mice. Unfortunately, little information on nonneoplastic pulmonary lesions in mice is available and the question of whether age is related to the development of these lesions has rarely been adressed. A precise tabulation of the prevalence of the various lesions and an accurate comparison among commonly used strains of mice are not possible because of the imprecision with which nonneoplastic lesions, often of insignificant degree, are recorded. Furthermore, at least in th e older literature, some of the information was derived from mice infected with respiratory pathogens. Specific infectious diseases are not discussed in this chapter because the emphasis is on SPF colonies. Brownstein (this monographs) refers to the most important confounding agents (particularly Mycoplasma pulmonis, Corynebacterium kutscheri, and Sendai and mouse pneumonia virus) and provides access to the relevant lit erature.