Open Journal of Pathology, 2014, 4, 125-137 Published Online July 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojpathology http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpathology.2014.43019 How to cite this paper: Fleig-Mayer, A.M., et al. (2014) Membrane and Subcellular Muscle Injury Are Induced by Single or Multiple Exposure to Cigarette Smoke. Open Journal of Pathology, 4, 125-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpathology.2014.43019 Membrane and Subcellular Muscle Injury Are Induced by Single or Multiple Exposure to Cigarette Smoke Ana Maria Fleig-Mayer 1 , Alba Ramirez-Sarmiento 2,3 , Amanda Iglesias 4,5 , Montserrat Morlá 4,5 , Carlos Coronell 2 , Diego Rodríguez 2,3 , Simona Pichinni 6 , Josep Lloreta 7,8 , Piergiorgio Zuccaro 6 , Xavier Busquets 4 , Joaquim Gea 3,4 , Jose R. Jardim 1 , Mauricio Orozco-Levi 2,3,4,7* 1 Centro Universitário do Triângulo (UNITRI), Avenida nicomedes Alves Dos Santos, 4545-Gavea, Uberlândia; Pulmonary Rehabilitation Center, Respiratory Division, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 2 Group of Research in Injury, Immune Response and Function (LIF), Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM), Carrer Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona, E-08003, Spain 3 Servei de Pneumologia, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Maritim 25, Barcelona, E-08003, Spain 4 Centro en Red de Investigación de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Recinto Hospital Joan March Carretera Soller Km. 12, 07110, Bunyola, Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain 5 Institut Universitari d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut (IUNICS) and Department de Biologia, Universitat Illes Balears (UIB); Cra de Valldemossa, Km 7.5, Palma, Illes Balears, Spain 6 Laboratorio Di Biochimica Clinica, Istituto Superiore Di Sanitá. Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Roma, Italy 7 Respiratory Department, Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia, Calle 155A 23-58, Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia 8 Servei d’Anatomia Patológica, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Maritim 25, Barcelona, E-08003, Spain Email: * mauricioorozco@fcv.org Received 11 March 2014; revised 11 April 2014; accepted 30 April 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract Cigarette smoking is the main cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Diaphragm injury is observed in patients with COPD. However, the potential role of smoking in triggering or perpetuating muscle injury is unknown. The present study was aimed at evaluating the potential role of commercial tobacco smoke as a direct cause of skeletal muscle injury in experimental con- ditions. Seventy Wistar rats (170 - 250 g) were assigned to smoking (n = 49) or non-smoking (n = 21) groups. The smoking groups were submitted to a single or multiple (i.e., five or thirty) daily sessions of cigarette smoking in an inhalatory chamber (time length: 2 h each session). The level of exposure was constant and assessed by CO concentrations (50 ppm) and serum cotinine analy- * Corresponding author.