Pulmonary Inflammation and Cell Death in Mice After Acute Exposure to Air Particulate Matter From an Industrial Region of Buenos Aires

• Published in: Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology 2014-07, Vol.67 (1), p.87-96
• Main Authors: Astort, F, Sittner, M, Ferraro, S. A, Orona, N. S, Maglione, G. A, De la Hoz, A, Tasat, D. R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acute effects; acute exposure; Air; Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air pollution; Airborne particulates; Animals; Apoptosis; Argentina; Biological and medical sciences; Body weight; Cell Death; chemical composition; Contamination; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental pollutants toxicology; Environmental studies; Enzymes; epidemiological studies; Health hazards; human health; in vitro studies; Industrial areas; inflammation; interleukin-6; Laboratory animals; Lungs; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolism; Metals; Mice; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; morbidity; Morphology; mortality; Neighborhoods; Outdoor air quality; Oxidative stress; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - toxicity; particulates; pneumonia; Pneumonia - chemically induced; Pollution; Rivers; Scanning electron microscopy; Soil Science & Conservation; Spectrum analysis; Stone & clay industries; superoxide anion; toxicity; Toxicology; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Urban areas; Water pollution
• ISSN: 0090-4341; 1432-0703
• DOI: 10.1007/s00244-013-9975-4

Epidemiological studies have shown that air particulate matter (PM) can increase respiratory morbidity and mortality being the lungs the main target organ to PM body entrance. Even more, several in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that air PM has a wide toxicity spectra depending among other parameters, on its size, morphology, and chemical composition. The Reconquista River is the second most polluted river from Buenos Aires, and people living around its basin are constantly exposed to its contaminated water, soil and air. However, the air PM from the Reconquista River (RR-PMa) has not been characterized, and its biological impact on lung has yet not been assessed. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken to study (1) RR-PMa morphochemical characteristic and (2) RR-PMa lung acute effects after intranasal instillation exposure through the analysis of three end points: oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. A single acute exposure of RR-PMa (1 mg/kg body weight) after 24 h caused significant (p < 0.05) enrichment in bronchoalveolar total cell number and polymorphonuclear (PNM) fraction, superoxide anion generation, production of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, and induction of apoptosis. It was also observed that in lung homogenates, none of the antioxidant enzymes assayed showed differences between exposed RR-PMa and control mice. These data demonstrate that air PM from the Reconquista River induce lung oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death therefore represents a potential hazard to human health.