LEUKOCYTE RECRUITMENT TO AIRWAYS BY ALDEHYDE-CARBON COMBINATIONS THAT MIMIC CIGARETTE-SMOKE

Abstract

Exposure of Syrian golden hamsters to formaldehyde (3-250 ppm) evaporated onto C (21-805 mg/m3) recruited polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes to the epithelium of tracheas and intrapulmonary airways which peaked at 24-48 h. Acrolein (< 6 ppm) on C (593 mg/m3) caused PMN recruitment which was maximal at 12 h. The vapor phase of cigarette smoke produced PMN leukocyte recruitment of the same magnitude and with the same time course. Exposure to formaldehyde at doses of 2-250 ppm and acrolein at 6 ppm was cytotoxic to airway cells and caused prompt and delayed exfoliation but no recruitment of PMN leukocytes. There was no difference in cytotoxicity when C was present. Leukocyte recruitment occurred only when C was present, either given simultaneously with aldehydes or with adsorbed aldehydes. Aldehyde vapor simulates the cytotoxic effects of particle-free cigarette smoke vapor. Of greater significance is the finding that an aldehyde, formaldehyde or acrolein, inhaled adsorbed on C or simultaneously with C to hamster airways, is chemotactic for PMN leukocytes just as is the vapor phase of cigarette smoke when given simultaneously with C particles.