RESUMEN
Deployments of tear gas and pepper spray have rapidly increased worldwide. Large amounts of tear gas have been used in densely populated cities, including Cairo, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, Manama (Bahrain), and Hong Kong. In the United States, tear gas was used extensively during recent riots in Ferguson, Missouri. Whereas tear gas deployment systems have rapidly improved-with aerial drone systems tested and requested by law enforcement-epidemiological and mechanistic research have lagged behind and have received little attention. Case studies and recent epidemiological studies revealed that tear gas agents can cause lung, cutaneous, and ocular injuries, with individuals affected by chronic morbidities at high risk for complications. Mechanistic studies identified the ion channels TRPV1 and TRPA1 as targets of capsaicin in pepper spray, and of the tear gas agents chloroacetophenone, CS, and CR. TRPV1 and TRPA1 localize to pain-sensing peripheral sensory neurons and have been linked to acute and chronic pain, cough, asthma, lung injury, dermatitis, itch, and neurodegeneration. In animal models, transient receptor potential inhibitors show promising effects as potential countermeasures against tear gas injuries. On the basis of the available data, a reassessment of the health risks of tear gas exposures in the civilian population is advised, and development of new countermeasures is proposed.
Asunto(s)
Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/inducido químicamente , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/epidemiología , Trastornos Respiratorios/inducido químicamente , Trastornos Respiratorios/epidemiología , Gases Lacrimógenos/envenenamiento , Animales , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/inducido químicamente , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/epidemiología , Enfermedades Cardiovasculares/metabolismo , Humanos , Enfermedades del Sistema Nervioso/metabolismo , Trastornos Respiratorios/metabolismo , Canales Catiónicos TRPV/metabolismo , Gases Lacrimógenos/metabolismo , Canales de Potencial de Receptor Transitorio/metabolismoRESUMEN
Lachrymators of varied structure are reduced either by hydrogen addition or halogen substitution using NADH model compounds as donors. Similar compounds without lachrymatory activity were reduced either very slowly or not at all. CS (o-Chlorobenzalmalonitril) is reduced by NADH, the reaction being catalyzed by an enzyme present in erythrocytes. Thus the lachrymatory action follows a general scheme for the activity of sensory transduction. This scheme consists of a reception in the nerve cell membrane and a fast or simultaneous chemical transformation in an enzymic reaction.