Intratracheal instillation of quaternary ammonium compounds in rats

There is a lack of comprehensive toxicity studies of QACs associated with pulmonary toxicity. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the potential pulmonary toxic effects of QACs based on toxicogenomic approach. We conducted transcriptome analysis using RNA sequencing to identify alterations in gene expression associated with QACs exposure. The SD rats were administered to a single intratracheal instillation (ITI) of each QACs at varying concentrations. Within this range of concentrations, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) analysis showed increases in total cell count, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and total protein levels in response to QACs exposure. Based on these results, transcriptome analysis using quantSeq 3` mRNA sequencing was conducted on lung tissues from SD rats intratracheally administered with four QACs with a 2.0-fold change cutoff and p < 0.05 (n=4/group) to assess the toxicogenomic responses.

目前针对与肺毒性相关的季铵盐类化合物（Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, QACs）的全面毒性研究仍较为匮乏。因此，本研究旨在借助毒理基因组学方法，阐明QACs潜在的肺脏毒性效应。我们通过RNA测序开展转录组分析，以识别与QACs暴露相关的基因表达变化。实验中，SD大鼠经单次气管内滴注给予不同浓度的各QACs。在此浓度范围内，支气管肺泡灌洗液（bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, BALF）分析结果显示，QACs暴露后总细胞计数、乳酸脱氢酶（lactate dehydrogenase, LDH）及总蛋白水平均出现升高。基于上述结果，我们对经气管滴注四种QACs的SD大鼠肺组织开展了quantSeq 3' mRNA测序的转录组分析，以评估其毒理基因组学应答，本实验设置2倍表达变化阈值与p<0.05的显著性标准，每组n=4。