Increased vulnerability of neonatal rats and mice to 1-nitronaphthalene-induced pulmonary injury.
The postnatal period of lung development is a critical window of susceptibility to environmental toxicants, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and furans. To determine whether the increased susceptibility of neonatal lung injury due to environmental toxicants is a universal response across species and also applies to nitrated compounds, adult and 7-day-old male mice and rats were given a single intraperitoneal dose (0, 12.5, 25, 50, or 100 mg/kg) of 1-nitronaphthalene and killed 24 h later. Exposure to 1-nitronaphthalene, a nitro-polyaromatic hydrocarbon, results in pulmonary lesions in both adult rats and mice, although the severity of the injury is species-specific (greater in rats than in mice). Pulmonary lesions, as assessed by quantitative histopathology, included dose-dependent vacuolization and exfoliation of both ciliated and nonciliated airway epithelial cells throughout the airway tree in both rats and mice. In both species, the 7-day-old animals were more susceptible to injury by 1-nitronaphthalene than adult animals. In contrast to adult response, neonatal mice were more susceptible to 1-nitronaphthalene-induced pulmonary injury than neonatal rats. This indicates that neonatal susceptibility to environmental pollutant-induced lung injury cannot be reliably predicted based on adult susceptibility.
Fanucchi
Michelle V
MV
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. mvfanucchi@ucdavis.edu
Day
Kimberly C
KC
Clay
Candice C
CC
Plopper
Charles G
CG
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002273:Carcinogens / Q000633:toxicity*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013045:Species Specificity
D002273:Carcinogens; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009281:Naphthalenes; C016614:1-nitronaphthalene