Effect of maternal nicotine exposure on neonatal lung elastic tissue and possible consequences.

The effect of maternal nicotine exposure (1 mg/kg body mass/d) on the lung elastic tissue of 1-day-old rat pups was investigated. The results show that maternal nicotine exposure resulted in a very low elastic tissue content in the lungs of these rat pups compared with those of the controls. This may interfere with normal lung development since elastic tissue is part of the lung connective tissue structure and is involved in the formation of alveoli. Impaired elastic synthesis may thus make the rat pups more susceptible to lung diseases such as emphysema.