Atherosclerosis lesion progression during inhalation exposure to environmental tobacco smoke: A comparison to concentrated ambient air fine particles exposure

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and ambient air fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are both complex mixtures that have important adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Although exposures to these complex mixtures have been studied individually, direct comparisons between the two has not been performed. In this study, the authors employed a novel, noninvasive ultrasound biomicroscopy method (UBM) to assess the effects of long-term, low-concentration inhalations of side-stream smoke (SS) and concentrated ambient PM2.5 (CAPs) on plaque progression. ApoE(-/-) mice (n = 8/group) on high-fat chow (HFC), or normal chow (NC), were exposed to SS (PM = 450 mu g/m(3)) or filtered air (FA) for 6 h/day, 5 days/week, for 6 months; CAPs exposure was at 134 mu g/m(3) (NC only). Mortality during the SS exposure was greater in the HFC than in the NC, and SS significantly enhanced the effects of diet. No mortality was observed in CAPs-exposed mice. At 4 and 6 months, SS produced the greatest change in plaque area in the left common carotid artery (CCA) in HFC as compared to FA or NC, but not in the brachiocephalic artery. In contrast, CAPs exposure significantly enhanced plaque areas in brachiocephalic and left CCA at 3 and 6 months of exposure. The effect of SS was comparable in magnitude to that produced by CAPs at an average PM2.5 mass concentration that was only 30% as high. In light of the employment of the same animal model, uniform inhalation exposure protocols, time schedules, a noninvasive monitoring protocol, and a parallel study design, these findings have broad applicability.