Authors : Fan Wang, Chonglei Li, Wei Liu and Yihe Jin
Abstract: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are one of the main substances causing multiple chemical sensitivity reactions in human indoors. In order to investigate the effect of short-term of VOCs mixture on oxidative stress responses in mice, researchers exposed male Kunming mice to filtered air (0) and four kinds of VOCs mixture treated air. The concentrations of VOCs were following about: Form Aldehyde (FA), Benzene, Toluene and Xylene (BTX) 1.0 + 1.1 + 2.0 + 2.0, 3.0 + 3.3 + 6.0 + 6.0, 5.0 + 5.5 + 10.0 + 10.0 and 10.0 + 11.0 + 20.0 + 20.0 mg m-3, respectively which corresponded to 10, 30, 50 and 100 times of indoor air quality standard in China for 2 h day-1 for 5 days/week for 2 weeks in the whole body exposure chamber. One day following the last VOCs mixture exposure researchers collected liver, serum, lung and Bronchia Alveolus Lavage Fluid (BALF) from each mouse and examined LDH in BALF, ROS in lung, antioxidant enzyme activities, ROS, lipid and protein peroxidation and Reactive Nitrogen Species (RNS) in liver, DNA damage marker in serum. LDH release in BALF indicated cell impairment in the alveolar area. There was a positive correlation between LDH release in BALF and ROS production in lung (r = 0.636, p<0.001). The oxidative stress and injury in the liver occurred as VOCs mixture appeared to trigger a cascade of reactions such as lipid and protein peroxidation. Total antioxidation capacity and activities of antioxidative enzymes other than CAT were significantly decreased and nitric oxide was increased in liver in mice exposure to VOCs. The 8-OHdg in serum exposure to a high dose of VOCs was significantly higher than control. These results showed that inhalation of short-term VOCs mixture influence oxidative stress of the mice so as to induce a variety of oxidative products. ROS, GSH, GSH-Px, T-AOC, iNOS in liver could be used as sensitive biological makers of oxidative damage under short-term VOCs mixture condition. These findings also provide the occupational exposure limit concentrations for VOCs with valuable reference.
Fan Wang, Chonglei Li, Wei Liu and Yihe Jin, 2012. Oxidative Stress Levels of Kunming Mice Following Short-Term Exposure to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) Mixture. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 11: 3417-3426.