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. 2014 Dec 2;30(6):1017–1024. doi: 10.1007/s12264-014-1480-x

Acute systemic accumulation of acrolein in mice by inhalation at a concentration similar to that in cigarette smoke

Melissa Tully 2,3, Lingxing Zheng 1,2, Glen Acosta 1, Ran Tian 1,2, Riyi Shi 1,2,✉
PMCID: PMC4397909  NIHMSID: NIHMS666221  PMID: 25446876

Abstract

Cigarette smoke is an important environmental factor associated with a wide array of public health concerns. Acrolein, a component of tobacco smoke and a known toxin to various cell types, may be a key pathological factor mediating the adverse effects linked with tobacco smoke. Although acrolein is known to accumulate in the respiratory system after acute nasal exposure, it is not clear if it accumulates systemically, and less is known in the nervous system. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of acrolein accumulation in the circulation and in the spinal cord following acute acrolein inhalation in mice. Using a laboratory-fabricated inhalation chamber, we found elevated urinary 3-HPMA, an acrolein metabolite, and increased acrolein adducts in the spinal cord after weeks of nasal exposure to acrolein at a concentration similar to that in tobacco smoke. The data indicated that acrolein is absorbed into the circulatory system and some enters the nervous system. It is expected that these findings may facilitate further studies to probe the pathological role of acrolein in the nervous system resulting from smoke and other external sources.

Keywords: tobacco, lipid peroxidation, urine, liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry

Footnotes

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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