ABSTRACT
Diesel exhaust (DE) is an important pollution source widely existing in the living and production environment, which is closely related to the health of the public and occupational groups. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified DE as a Group 1 carcinogen. Considering the negative health impacts on the respiratory system due to DE exposure in vitro, it is crucial to apply reliable test systems allowing accurate assessment of the biological effects of DE. The exposure technology of respiratory system in vitro is considered as one of the feasible measures to implement the 3R (reduce, refine, and replace) principle in animal experiments. Compared with the traditional submerged culture in vitro models, the air-liquid interface (ALI) exposure technology has the advantages including fewer influencing factors, easier exposure condition control, and shorter exposure cycle. ALI has become an important tool to study molecular events associated with physiology and pathology of respiratory system, and action modes and interactions of different cell types. Also, ALI has been increasingly widely used because it can simulate the actual processes of human respiratory system cells and/or tissues to DE exposure. This review was intended to introduce the development and advantages of ALI exposure technology, and further summarized the application progress of ALI exposure technology in studying the respiratory toxicity induced by DE exposure in vitro, so as to provide new ideas and pathways for the use of ALI exposure technology in the study of biomarkers and mechanisms of respiratory toxicity associated with DE exposure, and provide basic data to screen and promote biomarkers for exposed populations.
ABSTRACT
Aerosol inhalation exposure device provides important means for the studies of respiratory infectious disease, toxicity identification of chemical substance, vaccine evaluation and drug research, and now it is widely used in many fields included of respiratory diseases research, toxicology, inhalation immunity and safety evaluation. It is essential platform to do aerosol infection experiment of using laboratory animal and toxicology studies about inhalation. With the developments of science and technology and for the demand of reality, the device of aerosol exposure is developing in a more safe, efficient, precise and automatic direction, and it has a wide application prospect. Through reviews the characters and applications of inhalation exposure device, this paper will service as the scientific basis and references for further research and selection on the inhalation exposure device in future.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the separate and combined effects of tobacco and biomass smoke exposure on pulmonary histopathology in rats. INTRODUCTION: In addition to smoking, indoor pollution in developing countries contributes to the development of respiratory diseases. METHODS: Twenty-eight adult rats were divided into four groups as follows: control group (Group I, no exposure to tobacco or biomass smoke), exposed to tobacco smoke (Group II), exposed to biomass smoke (Group III), and combined exposure to tobacco and biomass smoke (Group IV). After six months the rats in all four groups were sacrificed. Lung tissue samples were examined under light microscopy. The severity of pathological changes was scored. RESULTS: Group II differed from Group I in all histopathological alterations except intraparenchymal vascular thrombosis. There was no statistically significant difference in histopathological changes between the subjects exposed exclusively to tobacco smoke (Group II) and those with combined exposure to tobacco and biomass smoke (Group IV). The histopathological changes observed in Group IV were found to be more severe than those in subjects exposed exclusively to biomass smoke (Group III). DISCUSSION: Chronic exposure to tobacco and biomass smoke caused an increase in severity and types of lung injury. CONCLUSION: Exposure to cigarette smoke caused serious damage to the respiratory system, particularly with concomitant exposure to biomass smoke.