Clinical and morphological comparisons of the influence of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system of children and rats.

Abstract

Background . Tobacco smoking is the most common bad habit on a global scale, which is one of the main risk factors of chronic bronchopulmonary pathology. Most sensitive to exposure to the components of tobacco smoke are children and teenagers, since their respiratory system is very vulnerable through age-related functional, anatomical and morphological features. Objective . To study the depth and dynamics of morphological changes in the bronchopulmonary system of adolescents under the influence of tobacco smoke based on the comparison of clinical data and experiment on rats. Methods . There was conducted a comparative study of the influence of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system of adolescents, who were divided into 3 groups: 1 group from the earliest age were exposed to passive exposure to tobacco smoke; group 2 consisted of teenagers, whose mother during pregnancy smoked, and after being born, they continued to be subjected to passive exposure to tobacco smoke from parents; 3 group – teenagers who were active smokers, however, had not been exposed to tobacco smoke at an early age. The examination included clinical, functional and instrumental methods. The experimental part of the work was to study the morphological changes in the respiratory system of Wistar rats that were in similar conditions, in terms of load and duration of the impact of the pathological factor. Results. It is established that the level of pathological load correlates with the depth of the morphological changes. Thus, the most evident changes in the functional parameters were shown by the second group of adolescents, which coincides with the depth of disorders of the morphological structure of lung tissue of rats that were in similar conditions. The comparison of the results of clinical and experimental studies also took place in other research groups, which allowed to confirm the damaging effect of tobacco smoke on respiratory system of children and adolescents. Conclusion . Studies have shown that tobacco smoke in children and adolescents leads to morphological changes in the bronchopulmonary system, the severity of which depends on age and the duration of its exposure.