Respiratory function responses of animals and man to oxidant gases and to pulmonary emphysema

• Published in: Journal of toxicology and environmental health Vol. 13; no. 2-3; p. 345
• Main Author: Mauderly, J L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 1984
• Subjects: Aged; Animals; Bronchial Provocation Tests; Cats; Dogs; Environmental Exposure; Female; Guinea Pigs; Humans; Irritants; Lung - drug effects; Lung - metabolism; Male; Nitrogen Dioxide - toxicity; Oxygen - toxicity; Ozone - toxicity; Pulmonary Emphysema - chemically induced; Pulmonary Emphysema - metabolism; Pulmonary Ventilation - drug effects; Rats; Respiration - drug effects; Species Specificity; Tidal Volume; Vital Capacity - drug effects
• ISSN: 0098-4108
• DOI: 10.1080/15287398409530502

Data on the respiratory functional responses of animals and humans to inhaled oxidant gases and to pulmonary emphysema were reviewed and compared. Comparisons included responses to short-term inhalation of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and oxygen and the functional manifestations of chronic emphysema. The comparisons illustrated that animals and humans have qualitatively similar functional responses to the irritant, bronchoconstrictive, and sensitizing effects of acutely inhaled ozone and nitrogen dioxide. Animals and humans responded similarly to the inflammatory and edematous effects of inhaled oxygen. Similar changes in maximal expiratory flow-volume curves, pressure-volume curves, lung volumes, and alveolar-capillary gas exchange occurred in animals and humans with emphysema. These results suggest that similar respiratory functional changes occur in both animals and humans when similar morphological changes result from lung injury. This observation lends confidence to the use of laboratory animals in studies to predict the effects of long-term exposure of humans to inhaled oxidant gases.