Hormones and Pulmonary Effects of Tobacco

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Hydrocortisone or dexamethasone administered daily for seven or 14 days brought about the following effects in rats: (a) reduction or blockade in the bronchoconstrictor action and decreased tidal volume response to inhalation of cigarette smoke; (b) no effect on bronchodilator mechanisms related to cigarette smoke and injection of epinephrine; (c) no effect on bronchoconstrictor mechanisms related to serotonin and bradykinin; (d) no effect on surfactant activity of saline extract of the lung; and (e) no effect on histamine content of the lung, although compounds which release histamine reduce histamine content in the lung. These results contribute to understanding the basis for the antiasthmatic action of corticosteroids. There is no reason to suspect that the mechanisms in rat lung differ from those in other animal species. Discrepancies in results of experimentally induced pulmonary emphysema are due to differences in techniques rather than to a difference in animal species.

This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit: