Lethal effects of exposure to environmental cigarette smoke on Drosophila larvae and its oxidative damage transmitted to the next generation

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Epidemiological evidence indicates that cigarette smoke is harmful for our health. Many investigations have documented damage induced by mainstream cigarette smoke. We examined the biological effects induced by environmental cigarette smoke (ECS) using Drosophila. When 3rd instar larvae were exposed to ECS, the eclosion-rate of a urate-null mutant strain decreased significantly compared to that of a wild strain. As urate is considered to function as an antioxidant in Drosophila, cigarette smoke appears to induce oxidative damage in larvae. To estimate the effect of ECS on offspring development, we observed the viability of flies emerging from eggs that were produced by matings between males and females eclosed from larvae exposed or not exposed to ECS. Pairs of the urate-null strain in which both males and females were exposed showed the lowest viability. These results suggest that third instar larvae were damaged by ECS affecting not only their own viability but also that of the next generation.