Season and size of urban particulate matter differentially affect cytotoxicity and human immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Published in: PloS one 2019-07, Vol.14 (7), p.e0219122
• Main Authors: Sarkar, Srijata, Rivas-Santiago, César E, Ibironke, Olufunmilola A, Carranza, Claudia, Meng, Qingyu, Osornio-Vargas, Álvaro, Zhang, Junfeng, Torres, Martha, Chow, Judith C, Watson, John G, Ohman-Strickland, Pamela, Schwander, Stephan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air pollution; Atmospheric sciences; Biological response modifiers; Biology and Life Sciences; Cell death; Chromatography; Cities; Cytokines; Cytotoxicity; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic - drug effects; Development and progression; Disease susceptibility; Dry season; Earth Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Environmental aspects; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Epidemiology; Exposure; Female; Health aspects; Host Microbial Interactions - drug effects; Host Microbial Interactions - immunology; Households; Human behavior; Humans; Immune response; Immunity; In Vitro Techniques; Indoor air pollution; Infections; Interferon; Interferon gamma; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-1beta - biosynthesis; Leukocytes (mononuclear); Leukocytes, Mononuclear - drug effects; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mexico; Middle Aged; Monthly rainfall; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - growth & development; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - immunology; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - pathogenicity; Outdoor air quality; Particle Size; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - toxicity; Particulate pollutants; Particulates; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Phagocytosis; Phagocytosis - drug effects; Pollution; Pollution effects; Pollution levels; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Public health; Risk factors; Seasonal variations; Seasons; T cells; T-Box Domain Proteins - immunology; Toxicity; Tuberculosis; Urban air; Urban Health; Urban population; Young Adult; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219122

Exposure to air pollution particulate matter (PM) and tuberculosis (TB) are two of the leading global public health challenges affecting low and middle income countries. An estimated 4.26 million premature deaths are attributable to household air pollution and an additional 4.1 million to outdoor air pollution annually. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infects a large proportion of the world's population with the risk for TB development increasing during immunosuppressing conditions. There is strong evidence that such immunosuppressive conditions develop during household air pollution exposure, which increases rates of TB development. Exposure to urban air pollution has been shown to alter the outcome of TB therapy. Here we examined whether in vitro exposure to urban air pollution PM alters human immune responses to M.tb. PM2.5 and PM10 (aerodynamic diameters