Oxidative stress is reduced in Wistar rats exposed to smoke from tobacco and treated with specific broad-band pulse electromagnetic fields

Abstract

There have been a number of attempts to reduce the oxidative radical burden of tobacco. A recently patented technology, pulse electromagnetic technology, has been shown to induce differential action of treated tobacco products versus untreated products on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vivo. In a 90-day respiratory toxicity study, Wistar rats were exposed to cigarette smoke from processed and unprocessed tobacco and biomarkers of oxidative stress were compared with pathohistological analysis of rat lungs. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was decreased in a dose-dependent manner to 81% in rats exposed to smoke from normal cigarettes compared to rats exposed to treated smoke or the control group. These results correspond to pathohistological analysis of rat lungs, in which those rats exposed to untreated smoke developed initial signs of emphysema, while rats exposed to treated smoke showed no pathology, as in the control group. The promise of inducing an improved health status in humans exposed to smoke from treated cigarettes merits further investigation.