title: Acute Acrolein Exposure Induces Impairment of Vocal Fold Epithelial Barrier Function.
abstract: Acrolein is a ubiquitous pollutant abundant in cigarette smoke, mobile exhaust, and industrial waste. There is limited literature on the effects of acrolein on vocal fold tissue, although there are clinical reports of voice changes after pollutant exposures. Vocal folds are responsible for voice production. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the effects of acrolein exposure on viable, excised vocal fold epithelial tissue and to characterize the mechanism underlying acrolein toxicity. Vocal fold epithelia were studied because they form the outermost layer of the vocal folds and are a primary recipient of inhaled pollutants. Porcine vocal fold epithelia were exposed to 0, 50, 100, 500, 900 or 1300 μM of acrolein for 3 hours; the metabolic activity, epithelial resistance, epithelial permeability, tight junction protein (occludin and claudin 3) expression, cell membrane integrity and lipid peroxidation were investigated. The data demonstrated that acrolein exposure at 500 μM significantly reduced vocal fold epithelial metabolic activity by 27.2% (p≤0.001). Incubation with 100 μM acrolein caused a marked increase in epithelial permeability by 130.5% (p<0.05) and a reduction in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) by 180.0% (p<0.001). While the expression of tight junctional protein did not change in acrolein-treated samples, the cell membrane integrity was significantly damaged with a 45.6% increase of lipid peroxidation as compared to controls (p<0.05). Taken together, these data provide evidence that acute acrolein exposure impairs vocal fold epithelial barrier integrity. Lipid peroxidation-induced cell membrane damage may play an important role in reducing the barrier function of the epithelium.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xinxin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7609-6198
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America.|Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: M Preeti
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Sivasankar
mesh_terms: D000171:Acrolein / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D013552:Swine; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000171:Acrolein