Prenatal nicotine increases pulmonary alpha7 nicotinic receptor expression and alters fetal lung development in monkeys.

ABSTRACT: It is well established that maternal smoking during pregnancy is a leading preventable cause of low birth weight and prematurity. Less appreciated is that maternal smoking during pregnancy is also associated with alterations in pulmonary function at birth and greater incidence of respiratory illnesses after birth. To determine if this is the direct result of nicotine interacting with nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) during lung development, rhesus monkeys were treated with 1 mg/kg/day of nicotine from days 26 to 134 of pregnancy. Nicotine administration caused lung hypoplasia and reduced surface complexity of developing alveoli. Immunohistochemistry and in situ alpha-bungarotoxin (alphaBGT) binding showed that alpha7 nAChRs are present in the developing lung in airway epithelial ce

SUBMITTER: Sekhon HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC408124 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature