Prenatal nicotine alters maturation of breathing and neural circuits regulating respiratory control.

While perinatal nicotine effects on ventilation have been widely investigated, the prenatal impact of nicotine treatment during gestation on both breathing and neural circuits involved in respiratory control remains unknown. We examined the effects of nicotine, from embryonic day 5 (E5) to E20, on baseline ventilation, the two hypoxic ventilatory response components and in vivo tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity in carotid bodies and brainstem areas, assessed at postnatal day 7 (P7), P11 and P21. In pups prenatally exposed to nicotine, baseline ventilation and hypoxic ventilatory response were increased at P7 (+48%) and P11 (+46%), with increased tidal volume (p<0.

Effects of ozone exposure in rat lungs investigated with hyperpolarized 3 He MRI.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of subchronic ozone exposure on rat lung ventilation using hyperpolarized (HP) (3)He MRI.

Materials And Methods: A total of 24 Sprague-Dawley rats, distributed in one control group and four groups exposed to 0.5 ppm ozone concentration for two days or six days, either continuously (22 hours/day) or alternatingly (12 hours/day).