Effects of concomitant exposure to styrene and intense noise on rats’ whole lung tissues. Biochemical and histopathological studies

Abstract

Concurrent exposure to styrene (ST) and noise is common especially in industrial environments. The present study aims to determine the related oxidant-induced changes as the result of combined exposure to ST and noise. For this purpose, 24 male Wistar rats were used in four experimental groups (n = 6/groups): (1) control group, (2) the group exposed to an octave band of noise centered at 8 kHz (100 dB SPL) (6 h/day), (3) the group inhalationally exposed to ST (750 ppm) (6 h/day), (4) the group exposed to noise and ST simultaneously. The DNA damage was measured by assessing the concentration of 8-hydroxyl-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) using ELISA kit. Levels of lipid peroxidation (MDA), GSH and antioxidative activity of SOD and CAT were also determined in whole lung tissues. The results relatively indicated that sub-acute exposure to both noise and ST can lead to pathological damage in rat lung tissues. Furthermore, enhanced levels of 8-OHdG and MDA production were observed in lung tissues. In contrast, GSH, CAT and SOD were markedly reduced in co-exposed group. The results of the study verified additive interaction between noise and ST on accumulation of DNA oxidation products, progressive morphological damages as well as undermining the antioxidative defense system in the rat lung tissues.

Keywords:

• Noise
• rat
• styrene
• lung tissue
• DNA oxidative stress

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Hashemi and Dr. Seidkhani for sharing their pearls of wisdom with us during the course of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Tarbiat Modares University [521253–96] and Behbahan Faculty of medical sciences [545225–3].