Gordon T, Weideman P A, Gunnison A F
Institute of Environmental Medicine, New York University Medical Center, Tuxedo 10987.
Am Rev Respir Dis. 1993 May;147(5):1100-4. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/147.5.1100.
An important aspect of risk assessment is identification of subpopulations particularly susceptible to the effects of inhaled pollutants. The present study examined whether female rats were more sensitive during lactation to the acute pulmonary injury produced by inhaled endotoxin. Lactating and age-matched virgin female rats were exposed to aerosols of saline or endotoxin for 3 h and lavaged at 24 h after exposure. No significant differences in lactate dehydrogenase, beta-glucuronidase, total protein, and total cell and PMN counts were observed between virgin and lactating rats after exposure to saline. Each marker of pulmonary injury except beta-glucuronidase was 1.5- to 3-fold greater in lactating than in virgin female rats exposed to 29.6 micrograms/m3 endotoxin. PMNs (6-fold), total cell counts, and protein were also significantly increased (p < 0.05) in lactating rats exposed to 1.3 micrograms/m3 endotoxin, a concentration reported to occur in a number of agricultural settings. These results demonstrate that the physiologic state of lactation is associated with an increased sensitivity to the acute pulmonary injury produced by inhaled endotoxin and are consistent with previous work demonstrating a similar increased sensitivity to ozone exposure. The possibility of a similar pattern of enhanced response in analogous groups of humans merits examination.
风险评估的一个重要方面是识别对吸入污染物影响特别敏感的亚人群。本研究考察了哺乳期雌性大鼠是否对吸入内毒素所致的急性肺损伤更为敏感。将哺乳期和年龄匹配的未孕雌性大鼠暴露于生理盐水或内毒素气溶胶中3小时，并在暴露后24小时进行灌洗。暴露于生理盐水后，未孕大鼠和哺乳期大鼠之间的乳酸脱氢酶、β-葡萄糖醛酸酶、总蛋白、总细胞数和中性粒细胞数无显著差异。除β-葡萄糖醛酸酶外，暴露于29.6微克/立方米内毒素的哺乳期雌性大鼠的每项肺损伤标志物均比未孕雌性大鼠高1.5至3倍。暴露于1.3微克/立方米内毒素（据报道在许多农业环境中会出现的浓度）的哺乳期大鼠的中性粒细胞（6倍）、总细胞数和蛋白也显著增加（p<0.05）。这些结果表明，哺乳期的生理状态与对吸入内毒素所致急性肺损伤的敏感性增加有关，并且与先前证明对臭氧暴露敏感性类似增加的研究结果一致。在类似人群组中是否存在类似的增强反应模式值得研究。
