Impact of stainless-steel welding fumes on proteins and non-coding RNAs regulating DNA damage response in the respiratory tract of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Substantial evidence has established the negative impact of inhalation exposure to welding fumes on respiratory functions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of welding fume inhalation on expression of molecules that function as sensors, transducers and effectors of DNA damage response (DDR) in the respiratory tract of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were exposed to 50 mg/m stainless steel welding fumes for 1 h/d for 4, 8, and 12 weeks, respectively.