Therapeutical evaluation of Turda Salt Mine microclimate on pulmonary fibroblasts cultures

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the influence of salt mine medium from the Turda Salt Mine upon the cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro obtained from Wistar rats' lung, in normal and Ovalbumin challenged-"asthmatic" conditions. Materials and methods: Pulmonary fibroblasts cultures were prepared from Wistar rat lung. Cultures derived from lung rat develop with a monolayer of fibroblasts attached to the culture dish. Before cultures initiation, Wistar rats of 75-100 g weight were divided in two lots: control and ovalbumin challenged animals. Five animals of each lot were send to Turda Salt Mine for 14 days and maintained in the salt mine medium, as in speleotherapy treatment. Results: Speleotherapy of Wistar rats had induced significant differences in cell morphology and electrophoretic expression of primary pulmonary fibroblasts cultures. The data obtained support the protective effects of speleotherapy by comparing with ovalbumin sensibilised animals. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate the fact that speleotherapy induces changes on the morphology and protein expression of pulmonary fibroblasts in vitro, and these changes support the therapeutical properties of Turda Salt Mine medium.