Further cytological and cytochemical studies on the biological significance of the gas phase of fresh cigarette smoke

Abstract

Cultures of primary mouse kidney tissue and of the myxomycete physarum polycephalum, exposed once to puffs of the gas phase from fresh unfiltered cigarette smoke, display a sequence of inhibition of RNA synthesis, loss of RNA, pycnosis and cell destruction from 1–24 hours after exposure. The same gas phase after passing through an activated charcoal filter does not produce any alterations in both types of cultures. Acrolein, a gas phase constituent of fresh cigarette smoke, has essentially the same cell damaging effects on mouse kidneys and slime mold as the gas phase from unfiltered cigarettes.