Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Orthod Craniofac Res. 2024 Dec;27(6):967-973. doi: 10.1111/ocr.12844. Epub 2024 Aug 2.
Despite data linking smoking to increased risk of fetal morbidity and mortality, 11% of pregnant women continue to smoke or use alternative nicotine products. Studies confirm that nicotine exposure during pregnancy increases the incidence of birth defects; however, little research has focused on specific anatomic areas based on timing of exposure. We aim to determine critical in utero and postnatal periods of nicotine exposure that affect craniofacial development, specifically palate growth. Malformation of the palatal structures can result in numerous complications including facial growth disturbance, or impeding airway function. We hypothesized that both in utero and postnatal nicotine exposure will alter palate development.
We administered pregnant C57BL6 mice water supplemented with 100 μg/mL nicotine during early pregnancy, throughout pregnancy, during pregnancy and lactation, or lactation only. Postnatal day 15 pups underwent micro-computed tomography (μCT) analyses specific to the palate.
Resultant pups revealed significant differences in body weight from lactation-only nicotine exposure, and μCT investigation revealed several dimensions affected by lactation-only nicotine exposure, including palate width, palate and cranial base lengths, and mid-palatal suture width.
These results demonstrate the direct effects of nicotine on the developing palate beyond simple tobacco use. Nicotine exposure through tobacco alternatives, cessation methods, and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) may disrupt normal growth and development of the palate during development and the postnatal periods of breastfeeding. Due to the recent dramatic increase in the use of ENDS, future research will focus specifically on this nicotine delivery method.
尽管有数据表明吸烟会增加胎儿发病率和死亡率，但仍有 11%的孕妇继续吸烟或使用其他尼古丁产品。研究证实，孕妇暴露于尼古丁会增加出生缺陷的发生率；然而，很少有研究基于暴露时间集中关注特定的解剖区域。我们旨在确定影响颅面发育（特别是腭部生长）的关键宫内和产后尼古丁暴露期。腭部结构的畸形可能导致多种并发症，包括面部生长障碍或气道功能障碍。我们假设宫内和产后尼古丁暴露都会改变腭部发育。
我们在妊娠早期、整个妊娠期、妊娠期和哺乳期或哺乳期仅给怀孕的 C57BL6 小鼠饮用水中添加 100μg/ml 的尼古丁。产后 15 天的幼鼠接受针对腭部的微计算机断层扫描（μCT）分析。
仅哺乳期尼古丁暴露的幼鼠体重出现显著差异，μCT 研究发现，仅哺乳期尼古丁暴露影响多个腭部尺寸，包括腭部宽度、腭部和颅基底长度以及中腭缝宽度。
这些结果表明尼古丁对发育中的腭部的直接影响超出了单纯烟草使用的影响。通过烟草替代品、戒烟方法和电子尼古丁输送系统（ENDS）暴露于尼古丁可能会在发育过程中和哺乳期中断正常的腭部生长和发育。由于最近 ENDS 的使用急剧增加，未来的研究将专门针对这种尼古丁输送方法。
