This study analyzed the effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on alveolar epithelial permeability and transport properties. Primary cultured monolayers of rat Type II pneumocytes, cultured on both nonporous and porous surfaces, were used as models of isolated alveolar epithelium for in vitro exposure to nitrogen dioxide. The effects of nitrogen dioxide exposure for monolayers cultured on nonporous substrata were monitored by observing the changes in the net volume of fluid under the monolayer; for cells cultured on porous substrata, alterations in tissue bioelectric properties were noted. As a first step, primary cultured monolayers of rat Type II pneumocytes plated on nonporous plastic Petri dishes were used to investigate the effects of nitrogen dioxide on alveolar epithelial barrier properties. Such monolayers form fluid filled domes that are thought to result from active solute transport from medium to substratum, with water following passively. We used dome formation as a transport marker. Five-day-old cultures were directly exposed to 30 ppm NO2 in 5 percent CO2 in air at 25 degrees C, by cyclically tilting culture plates from side to side, so that both halves of the monolayer were exposed during each cycle. Exposures consisted of 10 cycles of four minutes each (two minutes per side), for a cell exposure time of 20 minutes. Control plates were simultaneously exposed to 5 percent CO2 in air under identical conditions. One day after the exposure, nitrogen dioxide-exposed monolayers exhibited significant decreases in dome density and individual dome volume, compared to the controls. By 48 hours post-exposure, differences between nitrogen dioxide-exposed and control monolayers were less, but remained significant. These results showed that short-term sublethal exposures to nitrogen dioxide produce a decrease in dome formation in Type II alveolar epithelial cell monolayers. This finding is most likely due to a decrease in the active transepithelial sodium transport rate, or an increase in the permeability of cell membranes or tight junctions, or both. Addition of vitamin E-containing liposomes to the culture media 24 hours pre-exposure did not affect the nitrogen dioxide-induced decrease in dome formation, indicating that under these circumstances no protective effect was provided by the antioxidant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)