Pulmonary carcinogenic effects of subchronic inhalation exposure with long-term follow-up to polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate in rats.

Authors

Cherry Kim, Hong Lee, Yoon Jeong Nam, Hyejin Lee, Jin Young Choi, Yu-Seon Lee, Hayan Park, Chaewon Park, Yoon Hee Park, Su A Park, Eun-Yeob Kim, Yong-Wook Baek, Haewon Kim, Byoungcheun Lee, Hye-Jin Kim, Hangoo Kang, Seong-Jin Choi, Doin Jeon, Kyu-Ri Lee, Ji-Soo Kim, Ye-Won Choi, Ji-Min Woo, Hee-Jin Song, Min-Kyoung Lee, Sanghyub Lee, Hyunseung Oh, Sang Hoon Jeong, Ju-Han Lee

Published in

Scientific reports. Jul 09, 2026. Epub Jul 09, 2026.

Abstract

Polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG-p) is a biocidal compound linked to respiratory toxicity following exposure to humidifier disinfectants, but long-term pulmonary outcomes after inhalation remain insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated the pulmonary carcinogenic effects of chronic PHMG-p inhalation in a rat model under environmentally relevant exposure conditions. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to aerosolized PHMG-p at concentrations of 0.01, 0.03, or 0.09 mg/m³ via whole-body inhalation for approximately 90 days and were serially assessed at 26, 52, 78, and 96 weeks using noninvasive chest computed tomography and histopathological examination to evaluate pulmonary lesion development. Pulmonary lesions demonstrated clear dose- and time-dependent patterns, with no bronchioloalveolar hyperplasia or no malignant lung tumors observed in the control or low-dose groups throughout the study period. In contrast, medium- and high-dose exposure resulted in progressive increases in hyperplastic and neoplastic lesions over time, and bronchioloalveolar adenoma/epithelioma and malignant lung tumors appeared only after prolonged exposure, predominantly in the high-dose group at later follow-up periods in both sexes. Imaging findings closely corresponded with histopathological progression, indicating that chronic inhalation exposure to PHMG-p can induce progressive pulmonary neoplastic lesions in a dose- and time-dependent manner and providing experimental evidence for potential long-term respiratory hazards associated with inhaled PHMG-p.

PMID:
42426165
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.