The influence of high-speed train’s transient pressure change on the fetal growth of SD rats

ABSTRACTThis research aims to explore the influence of transient pressure fluctuation inside high-speed trains passing throught tunnels on the fetal growth of Sprague – Dawley (SD) rats. A pressure variation simulation system was designed and exposure experiments were performed on SD rats. Forty-eight SD rats are divided into two control groups and two experimental groups, and are then exposed to transient pressure alternation (−1200 Pa ~1200 Pa) from gestation day 0 to gestation day 5 (GD 0–5). Fetal growth and development indicators on GD12 and GD18 between experimental and control groups were compared. Statistical results showed that, compared to the control group, the key indicators in the experimental group, including placental weight, placental diameter, fetal weight, and crown-to-rump length have decreased by 4.77%, 3.38%, 6.20%, and 3.75% respectively on GD18. The findings imply that the pressure fluctuation environment of high-speed trains has potential effects on the fetal growth of SD rats.KEYWORDS: High-speed train cabin environmentpassenger pressure comfortinterior pressure transientsanimal experiments AcknowledgementsWe thank all participants involved in the present study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant number 52078199), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province grants (Grant number 2019SK1010 and 2020SK2072), the China National Railway Group Limited (Grant number P2021J036), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (Grant number 2021QNRC001), and the Innovative Technology Program from China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation Co. Ltd. (Grant number 2022CYY002).