Pulmonary clearance and lung function : influence of acute tobacco
intoxication and of vitamin e.
Scherrer-Crosbie, M., M. Paul, M. Meignan, E. Dahan, G. Lagrue, G.
Atlan, and A. M. Lorino.
D[acute]epartement de M[acute]edecine Nucl[acute]eaire, Institut
National de la Sant[acute]e et de la Recherche M[acute]edicale INSERM
U 296 et D[acute]epartement de Physiologie, Policlinique, + Pharmacie
Centrale, H[circumflex]opital Henri Mondor, Cr[acute]eteil,
France
APStracts 3:0183A, 1996.
Cigarette smoking increases the alveolar epithelial permeability to
small solutes, assessed by the pulmonary clearance of aerosolized
99mTc-labeled diethylene-triaminepentaacetate. The involvement of
lipid peroxidation in this increased clearance was tested in eight
asymptomatic young smokers, by investigating the effects of a 3-wk
supplementation with oral vitamin E (1,000 IU / day) on pulmonary
clearance, according to a protocol designed as a single-blind
crossover study. Indices of acute tobacco intoxication (exhaled CO,
HbCO, and urinary cotinine), and lung function parameters (including
Krogh factor, Kco) were also studied. Under control conditions,
pulmonary clearance was abnormally increased (2.93 +/- 0.78 %.min-1),
whereas Kco was in the normal range. Pulmonary clearance correlated
strongly with expired CO (p < 0.04), HbCO (p < 0.005),
urinary cotinine (p < 0.003), and Kco (p < 0.004).
Supplementation with vitamin E, a highly efficient antioxidant,
neither decreased the pulmonary clearance nor altered the above
correlations. However, the strong correlations observed between
pulmonary clearance and indices of acute tobacco intoxication, which
reflect the amount of inhaled smoke and the resultant oxidant stress,
do not allow exclusion of the involvement of lipid peroxidation in
the pulmonary clearance increase observed in smokers.
Received 22 January 1996; accepted in final form 27 March 1996.
APS Manuscript Number A62-6.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 16 April 96