New Methodlogy for Measuring Damage to Respiratory Tract Cells Using Flow-System Cell-Analysis Techniques

摘要

Automated flow-system cell-analysis techniques provide a new method for determining damage to respiratory tract cells in humans exposed by inhalation of environmental pollutants such as from the production of synthetic fuels from coal and oil shale. This paper describes results of preliminary experiments designed to develop flow-system instrumentation methods for measuring biological damage to respiratory tract cells using the Syrian hamster as a model. Hamster respiratory tract cell samples were obtained by lavaging the lungs with normal saline. Cell samples stained with fluorescent dyes specific for various biochemical parameters were analyzed in liquid suspension as they flowed through a chamber intersecting a laser beam of exciting light. Sensors measured fluorescence and light-scatter optical signals on a cell-by-cell basis. Cellular parameters proportional to optical signals (e.g., cell size, DNA content, enzymatic esterase activity, nuclear and cytoplasmic diameter) were displayed as frequency distribution histograms. Basic operating features of this technology are presented, along with representative examples of results which illustrate the initial flow-system characterization of normal exfoliated respiratory tract cells. (ERA citation 03:013136)