PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Rubia Rodrigues
AU  - Alyne Riane
AU  - Juliana Lourenço
AU  - Clarice Olivo
AU  - Petra Arantes
AU  - Francine Almeida
AU  - Mílton A. Martins
AU  - Fernanda D.T.Q.S. Lopes
TI  - An experimental model of elastase and cigarette smoke- induced emphysema in mice
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3943
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P3943.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P3943.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Aims: Although, the cigarette smoke (CS) induced models appear to best represent human emphysema ,an important limitation of these models is that no matter how long animals are exposed, the resulting emphysema is mild. Considering that the mostly accepted hypothesis to explain the emphysema development is the protease-antiprotease imbalance, the porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) instillation is extensively used to induce severe emphysema in rodents depending on dose in short time. Methods: C57BL / 6 mice were divided into four groups: Control, Elastase, Smoke and Smoke/Elastase. The Smoke/Elastase animals group received an intranasal instillation of PPE (0.33 IU) and exposed to cigarette smoke for two months. The control group received the same treatment with NaCl 0.9 %. Animals were exposed to CS for 30min, 2 times / day, 5 days a week. After 2 months,we performed the respiratory mechanics assessment, inflammatory profile analysis in BALF and morphometry measurements to quantify the mean linear intercept (Lm); positive cells for MMP-12 and MAC-2 Results: We observed functional changes with decreased tissue elastance (Htis) in Smoke/Elastase group compared to other experimental groups, with an increased number of total cells in BAL (with a predominance of macrophages), increased LM and positive cells for MAC -2 and MMP-12 in the airways and lung parenchyma, respectively.Conclusions: Our results suggest that 2 months was sufficient to induce emphysema in mice exposed to CS that received previously a low-dose of PPE instillation. The alveolar enlargement evaluated by LM measurements showed similar values to the PPE-induced models studies.Supported by FAPESP, LIMHC-FMUSP, CNPq, Brazil.