Morphologic Changes in Nasal Mucosa of the Rat after Ozone Exposure / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ozone is the principal oxidant pollutant in photochemical smog. Although ozone-induced pulmonary changes have been morphologically characterized, effects of ozone on the upper respiratory tract have not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphological change of nasal mucosa after acute exposure to ozone. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Rats are exposed to 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, and 1.2 ppm of 0, for 6 hours a day for 7 days. Rats were sacrificed 18h after the end of their last exposure. Nasal mucosa was processed for Hematoxylin/Eosin (H/E) stain and Alcian blue (pH 2.5)/Periodic Acid Schiff (AB/PAS) stain. RESULTS: Morphological changes such as infiltration of neutrophils, loss of cilia, epithelial hyperplasia, squamous metaplasia and secretory cell metaplasia were observed and these changes were more pronounced in the group exposed to high concentration of ozone, compared with the group exposed to low concentration. CONCLUSION: The results of this study may suggest that ozone exposure induces infiammatory, proliferative, and metaplastic responses in the nasal mucosa.