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Generation of a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Model in Mice by Repeated Ozone Exposure
Published on: August 25, 2017
[Occupational exposure to respiratory irritants and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]
S Quintavalle1, L Mazzetti, E Zeni
1Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Sezione di Igiene e Medicina del Lavoro, Università di Ferrara. bsp@unife.it
Abstract:
Cigarette smoking and occupational exposure to respiratory irritants are the major riskfactors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is characterized by small-airway obstruction and destruction of pulmonary parenchyma: emphysema. We studied two groups of subjects: one exposed and the other one not-exposed to respiratory irritants, to investigate the relationship, if any, between occupational exposure and COPD. Subjects underwent high-resolution computed tomography-density mask of the chest to quantify pulmonary emphysema, pulmonary function tests, sputum induction and analysis for cell counts and measurements of metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and its tissue inhibitor TIMP-1. Subjects with occupational exposure to respiratory irritants had higher residual volume and functional residual capacity, higher total inflammatory cells and neutrophils in induced sputum. By contrast, sputum levels of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and MMP-91TIMP-1 ratio did not differ between the 2 groups. We conclude that sputum induction and analysis could be a useful and non-invasive tool to study and follow subjects with occupational exposure to respiratory irritants.
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