| dc.description.abstract | The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal nicotine exposure on the status of rat lung alveolar septa of 1 to 2l day old offspring. Wistar dams were injected subcutaneously, using a dosage of 1 mg nicotine/kg body mass/day, and treatment commenced 7 days after conception, up to the third week after parturition. The data obtained showed an increase in septal cellularity, with a decrease in type I: type II cell ratio as a result of type I cell destruction and type II cell proliferation. The type I cells appear to be more sensitive to the effect of nicotine than type II cells. Data also illustrate swelling of type II and endothelial cell mitochondria, blebbing of both type I and endothelial cells and rupturing of the blood-air barrier in the nicotine exposed lungs of the rats of all the age groups. Iamellar body count are significantly higher in the type 11 cells of nicotine exposed lungs in all age groups compared to the control lungs. The number of capillaries per unit length of septum was also significantly less than that of the control lungs. Other morphological changes which were also observed in the nicotine exposed offspring in all the age groups are: loss of type II cell microvilli, swelling of type I and endothelial cells, and grouping of type II cells within the septal interstitial (an indication of proliferation). The results clearly indicate that maternal nicotine exposure interfered with the morphometric and morphologic characteristics of the alveolar septal of the lung tissue of the neonatal rats. | en_US |
