De Sousa Pereira A, Aguas A P, Grande N R, Mirones J, Monteiro E, Castelo Branco N A
Abel Salazar Institute for Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal.
Aviat Space Environ Med. 1999 Mar;70(3 Pt 2):A86-90.
Vibroacoustic Disease (VAD) is a multi-systemic entity caused by occupational or chronic exposure to large pressure amplitude and low frequency (LPALF) noise (> or = 90 dB SPL, < or = 500 Hz). The clinical picture involves extra-auditory pathology, such as neurological disturbances, respiratory disorders and cardiovascular problems. Among the first complaints of VAD patients are coughing, bronchitis, and inflammation or infection of the oral cavity and the upper respiratory pathways. The goal of ths study was to investigate the effects of occupationally simulated LPALF noise exposure on rat tracheal epithelium to determine if they could explain the symptoms found in VAD patients.
We exposed 20 Wistar rats to occupationally simulated (8 h x d(-1), 5d x wk(-1)) LPALF noise for an accumulated total of 1236 h. The control group consisted of 10 age-matched rats, kept in equal conditions but in silence. Histological and ultrastructural studies were performed on the tracheal epithelia of both populations.
The most dramatic changes were identified in the ciliated cells of the exposed rats. There were frequent images of shaggy or necrotic cilia as well as regularly to partially sheared cilia. Also, there were frequent images of different stages of cilia recovery.
Occupationally simulated exposure to LPALF noise can cause important changes in ciliated cells rat tracheal epithelia. This may partially explain the clinical findings observed in VAD patients.
振动声学疾病（VAD）是一种多系统疾病，由职业性或长期暴露于大压力振幅和低频（LPALF）噪声（≥90 dB SPL，≤500 Hz）引起。临床表现涉及耳外病理状况，如神经紊乱、呼吸系统疾病和心血管问题。VAD患者最早出现的症状包括咳嗽、支气管炎以及口腔和上呼吸道的炎症或感染。本研究的目的是调查职业模拟LPALF噪声暴露对大鼠气管上皮的影响，以确定其是否能解释VAD患者出现的症状。
我们将20只Wistar大鼠暴露于职业模拟（8小时/天，5天/周）的LPALF噪声中，累计暴露时间达1236小时。对照组由10只年龄匹配的大鼠组成，饲养条件相同，但处于安静环境。对两组大鼠的气管上皮进行了组织学和超微结构研究。
在暴露大鼠的纤毛细胞中发现了最显著的变化。经常出现纤毛参差不齐或坏死的图像，以及规则或部分剪切的纤毛图像。此外，还经常出现纤毛恢复不同阶段的图像。
职业模拟暴露于LPALF噪声可导致大鼠气管上皮纤毛细胞发生重要变化。这可能部分解释了VAD患者的临床发现。
