Cigarette smoke potentiates asbestos-induced airflow abnormalities.

It has been suggested that exposure to both asbestos and cigarette smoke can produce worse parenchymal lung disease than exposure to asbestos alone. Using a guinea pig model of asbestos administration that produces primarily airway disease and associated airflow abnormalities, we showed previously that the combination of asbestos and smoke acts synergistically to produce more marked increases in tissue collagen, fibrosis of airway walls, and early interstitial fibrosis than are seen with asbestos alone. To investigate the functional effects of these morphological and biochemical abnormalities, pulmonary function tests for volumes and flows, including lung volumes, pressure-volume curves, and flow-volume curves, were performed. By themselves, both smoke and asbestos produced increases in total lung capacity (TLC), residual volume (RV), and functional residual capacity (FRC); the two agents together made all these changes worse than either one alone. Both smoking and asbestos moved the pressure-volume curve upward, and the effects of the two agents together were again greater than either alone. Similarly, both smoke and asbestos decreased flows, and the two agents produced more severe impairment than either one by itself. The changes in volumes, pressure-volume curve, and flows correlated with both increased thickness of small airway walls and increases in airspace size. These observations indicate that, at least in this guinea pig model, cigarette smoke can potentiate the functional consequences of asbestos exposure.