Laboratoire de Neurosciences, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
Cell Biol Toxicol. 2010 Aug;26(4):309-17. doi: 10.1007/s10565-009-9143-9. Epub 2009 Nov 20.
Nasal epitheliums are the first sites of the respiratory tract in contact with the external environment and may therefore be susceptible to damage from exposure to many toxic volatile substances (i.e., volatile organic components, vapors, and gases). In the field of inhalation toxicology, a number of studies have considered the main olfactory epithelium, but few have dealt with the epithelium of the vomeronasal organ (VNO). However, in several species such as in rodents, the VNO (an organ of pheromone detection) plays an important role in social interactions, and alterations of this organ are known to induce adaptative behavioral disturbances. Among volatile toxicants, health effects of inhaled gases have been thoroughly investigated, especially during CO(2) inhalation because of its increasing atmospheric concentration. Therefore, this work was designed to examine the effects of 3% CO(2) inhalation on VNO in two different exposure conditions (5 h/day and 12 h/day) in mice. Behavioral sensitivity tests to urine of congener and histological measurements of VNO were conducted before, during (weeks 1-4), and after (weeks 5-8) CO(2) inhalation exposures. Results showed no significant modifications of behavioral responses to urine, but there were significant changes of both cell number and thickness of the VNO epithelium. Moreover, the findings indicated a selectively dose-dependent effect of CO(2), and further research could use other gases in the same manner for comparison.
鼻腔上皮是呼吸道与外界环境接触的第一道防线，因此可能容易受到许多有毒挥发性物质（即挥发性有机成分、蒸气和气体）的损害。在吸入毒理学领域，许多研究都考虑了主要嗅觉上皮，但很少涉及犁鼻器（VNO）的上皮。然而，在一些物种（如啮齿动物）中，VNO（一种检测信息素的器官）在社交互动中起着重要作用，并且已知该器官的改变会导致适应性行为障碍。在挥发性有毒物质中，吸入气体的健康影响已经得到了彻底的研究，特别是在吸入二氧化碳（CO₂）时，因为其大气浓度不断增加。因此，这项工作旨在研究 3%CO₂吸入对两种不同暴露条件（每天 5 小时和 12 小时）下小鼠犁鼻器的影响。在 CO₂吸入暴露之前、期间（第 1-4 周）和之后（第 5-8 周），对尿液的同源行为敏感性测试和 VNO 的组织学测量进行了。结果表明，对尿液的行为反应没有明显改变，但 VNO 上皮的细胞数量和厚度都有显著变化。此外，研究结果表明 CO₂存在选择性的剂量依赖性效应，进一步的研究可以使用其他气体进行同样的比较。
