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In this work, a microfluidic lung chip with membrane supporting cell growth that can produce multiple concentration gradients of gas and liquid is introduced. The chip is composed of a gas gradient layer in the upper part, a porous membrane supporting cell growth in the middle and a liquid gradient layer in the lower part. The gas-liquid interface environment of the cells on the membrane can expose the cells to the gas in the upper layer and the liquid in the lower layer at the same time. Then, the chip is applied to the toxicity testing of formaldehyde in A549 cells. The results showed that at 6 × 10−5 mol/L formaldehyde, the survival rate of the cells in four channels were 90, 87, 81, and 71%, which shows a dose-response trend under the influence of different concentrations of formaldehyde. ROS staining results also showed that formaldehyde exposure at 6 × 10−5 mol/L lead to the increase of ROS level in the cells. These results suggest that the chip based on cell growth on membrane could be used for toxicological evaluation of environmental polluting gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the influences of heated tobacco products on environmental air quality and the human health risk, the exhaled aerosol after smoking heated tobacco products was collected with a vacuum assisted capture device. Five major chemical components (i.e. propylene glycol, glycerol, menthol, nicotine and glycerol triacetate) in the exhaled aerosol were quantitatively analyzed with a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Meantime, the heated tobacco product was also smoked by a smoking machine at the puffing parameters simulated volunteer smokers. The releases of the five chemical components in inhaled aerosol were determined and compared with those in the exhaled aerosol. The results showed that: 1 ) The developed method for exhaled aerosol of the heated tobacco product presented a linear calibration curve with correlation coefficient (R²) ≥ 0.999 9, and the limits of detection (LODs) between 0.10 and 0.41 µg/mL. The recoveries were in the range of 77.70%-120.00% with good intra-day (RSD≤6.93%) and inter-day precision (RSD≤10.70%). 2) The exhaled aerosol of the heated tobacco product contained higher releases of propylene glycol and glycerin, and the release of glycerin was higher than that of propylene glycol. There was menthol in the exhaled aerosol of the heated tobacco product with mint flavored tobacco rods. 3) The releases of the five chemical components in exhaled aerosol of the heated tobacco product were significantly lower than those in inhaled aerosol. The average retention efficiencies by the volunteers for propylene glycol, glycerin, menthol, nicotine and glycerol triacetate were 96.80%, 96.20%, 96.00%, 99.60% and 99.60% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of liver, intestine, lung and other organ chips and multi-organ chip models were summarized in this paper. The chip design and specific applications of these chip models in drug toxicity assessment and environmental toxicological evaluations were introduced emphatically, and the existing researches and application potentials of organ chips in the risk assessment of tobacco products were also discussed. This work provides the insights and ideas for the application of microfluidic organ chips in in vitro toxicological studies of tobacco products and other environmental exposures. In vitro toxicology evaluation plays an important role in the health risk assessment of tobacco products, the simulation of the physiological microenvironment and biological function in organ chips is of great significance in the construction of in vitro models. The application of microfluidic organ chips to in vitro toxicology of tobacco products could provide an innovative experimental platform for studying the formation mechanisms of tobacco-related diseases, and realize the multi-dimensional life analysis on the micro and nano scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]