# Development of pregnant animal model to evaluate sulfur mustard exposure in pediatric population

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $155,998

## Abstract

R01 ES035431_Administrative Supplement
PI: Veress
PROJECT SUMMARY
The majority of data on chemical inhalation injuries in humans comes from adult patients exposed in war times
or during occupational accidents. For this reason, injury in pediatric patients is scarcely reported and not
characterized. Moreover, impacts on lung and heart development and function of infants born to mothers who
were exposed to these chemicals during pregnancy is not known. For example, from adult patient reports, we
know that sulfur mustard (SM)causes acute cardiopulmonary failure from airway obstruction due to fibrin airway
casts, and that survivors are burdened with development of significant pulmonary morbidities, including delayed,
long-term (often progressive) cardiovascular sequelae months to years after the acute exposure event. These
late-onset morbidities from SM inhalation include chronic lung diseases, and chronic progressive cardiovascular
diseases, such as pulmonary hypertension, arterial hypertension and cardiac dysfunction/failure. Conversely to
sulfur mustard, high dose chlorine (Cl2) inhalation in adult patients causes acute airways edema, severe acute
nervous system dysfunction, abnormal calcium storage/release, and acute vasoconstrictive pulmonary
hypertension. However, recovery after chlorine exposure does not result in any long-term cardiovascular
morbidities. What is not known is how these exposures impact children who have developing lungs and
hearts, and if dysfunction will be present in them acutely and/or chronically. More importantly, the time of
most critical cardiopulmonary development occurs in utero during the first trimester, followed by the second and
third trimester of pregnancy in humans. We hypothesize, that pediatric animals born to mothers that were
exposed by inhalation during pregnancy to SM but not Cl2 will develop abnormal lung growth, increased
pulmonary hypertension and significant cardiac dysfunction throughout pediatric development (0 – 8 weeks in
rats), and that exposure in early gestation will cause worse outcomes than if exposure occurred in late gestation.
This proposal will characterize long-term pediatric effects of in utero exposure to two important toxic chemical
exposures.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11084649
- **Project number:** 3R01ES035431-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Livia Agnes Veress
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $155,998
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11084649

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11084649, Development of pregnant animal model to evaluate sulfur mustard exposure in pediatric population (3R01ES035431-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11084649. Licensed CC0.

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