Effects of Polymeric Foam on Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Background Lung volume reduction is an option in patients with severe emphysema to ease symptoms and improve the clinical situation. One method was the endobronchial application of polymeric foam into a subsegment of the lung to induce an absorption atelectasis. Due to side effects in treated patients our goal was to reevaluate the method in cell culture.
Methods Human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEpC) were treated with the polymeric foam. The cytotoxic effects were measured using an Annexin V assay and analysed in the nucleo counter 3000.
Results Treatment with the polymeric foam showed that HBEpC were driven into apoptosis already after 4 hrs. To this time point an additional treatment with glycine could reduce the effect. After 24 hrs the cytotoxic effect was even more present: 17% living cells in the foam treated group versus 73% in untreated cells (p < 0.0001). The effect is also due to late apoptosis after 24 hrs. The protective effect of glycine is lost at this time point.
Conclusion The polymeric foam method shows an induction of apoptosis in HBEpC which can be counteracted with glycine in the early time points. A protective approach could therefore be a glycine lavage before endobronchial treatment.