Inhalation Toxicology最新文献

{"title":"Impact of waterpipe and tobacco cigarette smoking on global DNA methylation and nuclear proteins genes transcription in spermatozoa: a comparative investigation.","authors":"Mohammed M Laqqan, Said S Al-Ghora, Maged M Yassin","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2208608","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2208608","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Waterpipe smoking is harmful and dangerous, and it is a growing threat to public health.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study was performed to evaluate the influence of waterpipe smoking on global DNA methylation, DNA fragmentation, and protamine deficiency in spermatozoa compared to cigarette heavy smokers and nonsmokers, and to determine whether the transcription levels of spermatozoa nuclear proteins genes '<i>PRM1</i>, <i>PRM2</i>, and <i>H2BFWT</i>' in waterpipe smokers are different compared to cigarette heavy smokers and nonsmokers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 900 semen samples were collected from males with a mean age of 32.5 ± 6.3 years (300 waterpipe smokers, 300 cigarette heavy smokers, and 300 nonsmokers). The nucleic acids were isolated from purified spermatozoa, and then the global DNA methylation and transcription levels of the <i>PRM1</i>, <i>PRM2</i>, and <i>H2BFWT</i> genes were assessed using ELISA and qPCR, respectively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A significant increase was found in the level of global DNA methylation (8.6 ± 0.6 ng/μl vs. 7.1 ± 0.6 ng/μl and 4.7 ± 0.6 ng/μl, <i>p</i> < 0.001), protamine deficiency (72.8 ± 15.3 vs. 51.7 ± 19.2 and 15.3 ± 5.9%, <i>p</i> < 0.001), and DNA fragmentation (73.4 ± 13.4 vs. 50.5 ± 18.9 and 9.3 ± 4.3%, <i>p</i> < 0.001) in waterpipe smokers compared to cigarette heavy smokers and nonsmokers. A significant increase was shown in the transcription levels of <i>PRM1, PRM2</i>, and <i>H2BFWT</i> genes in waterpipe smokers compared to cigarette heavy smokers and nonsmokers (<i>p</i> < 0.001). A down-regulation was found in the transcription level of these genes in different smoker groups compared to nonsmokers (<0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study suggests that waterpipe smoking is more harmful than cigarette smoking on semen parameters, global DNA methylation, and transcription of nuclear protein genes.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 7-8","pages":"175-184"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9670778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Real-time characterization of chemical threat agent aerosols for improvement of inhalation studies.","authors":"Mirjam de Bruin-Hoegée, Duurt P W Alkema, Ruud W Busker, Marloes J A Joosen, Arjan L van Wuijckhuijse","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2254323","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2254323","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Deliberate or accidental release of chemical treat agents in the aerosol form can cause an inhalation hazard. Since the relationship between aerosol properties and health hazards is poorly understood, research into the toxicological consequences of exposure to aerosols is needed. The aim of the present study was to improve the characterization of particles for inhalation studies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Several aerosol measurement technologies were compared for their potential to physically and chemically characterize particles in the inhalation size range in real-time. For that purpose, we compared the performance of an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS), a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI) in an experimental set-up in which particles were generated by a Collison nebulizer and subsequently delivered into a nose-only inhalation exposure system.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that more than 95% of the number of particles, equating to more than 83% of the mass generated by the 6-jet Collison nebulizer, were below 0.5 µm. To characterize the entire size range, the APS as single detector has only limited value, therefore the addition of supplementary instrumentation such as the SMPS or the ELPI is required. After real-time measurements in the size range of 30 nm to 10 µm, ex-situ chromatographic chemical analysis is essential for quantification of the delivered mass concentration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In summary, the present work demonstrates the utility of the ELPI technology, in combination with off-line analysis, for characterizing aerosols with various size, shape, charge, and composition. This makes the aerosol generation and analysis suite described a promising tool for quantitative inhalation exposure studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 9-10","pages":"254-265"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41147481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biological effects of inhaled crude oil vapor. III. Pulmonary inflammation, cytotoxicity, and gene expression profile.","authors":"Tina M Sager, Pius Joseph, Christina M Umbright, Ann F Hubbs, Mark Barger, Michael L Kashon, Jeffrey S Fedan, Jenny R Roberts","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2224394","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2224394","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Workers may be exposed to vapors emitted from crude oil in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry. Although the toxicity of crude oil constituents has been studied, there are very few <i>in vivo</i> investigations designed to mimic crude oil vapor (COV) exposures that occur in these operations. The goal of the current investigation was to examine lung injury, inflammation, oxidant generation, and effects on the lung global gene expression profile following a whole-body acute or sub-chronic inhalation exposure to COV.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>To conduct this investigation, rats were subjected to either a whole-body acute (6 hr) or a sub-chronic (28 d) inhalation exposure (6 hr/d × 4 d/wk × 4 wk) to COV (300 ppm; Macondo well surrogate oil). Control rats were exposed to filtered air. One and 28 d after acute exposure, and 1, 28, and 90 d following sub-chronic exposure, bronchoalveolar lavage was performed on the left lung to collect cells and fluid for analyses, the apical right lobe was preserved for histopathology, and the right cardiac and diaphragmatic lobes were processed for gene expression analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No exposure-related changes were identified in histopathology, cytotoxicity, or lavage cell profiles. Changes in lavage fluid cytokines indicative of inflammation, immune function, and endothelial function after sub-chronic exposure were limited and varied over time. Minimal gene expression changes were detected only at the 28 d post-exposure time interval in both the exposure groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Taken together, the results from this exposure paradigm, including concentration, duration, and exposure chamber parameters, did not indicate significant and toxicologically relevant changes in markers of injury, oxidant generation, inflammation, and gene expression profile in the lung.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":" ","pages":"241-253"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10658288/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9649196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toxicological and epidemiological approaches to carcinogenic potency modeling for mixed mineral fiber exposure: the case of fibrous balangeroite and chrysotile.","authors":"Andrey A Korchevskiy,&nbsp;Ann G Wylie","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2213720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2023.2213720","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Excess mesothelioma risk was observed among chrysotile miners and millers in Balangero, Italy. The mineral balangeroite has been identified in an asbestiform habit from the Balangero chrysotile mine (Italy). Previous studies did not contain a detailed description of the fiber dimensions, thus limiting possible approaches to estimating their carcinogenic potential.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To reconstruct excess mesothelioma risk based on characteristics of mixed fiber exposure.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The lengths and widths of particles from a sample of balangeroite were measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Statistical analysis and modeling were applied to assess the toxicological potential of balangeroite.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Balangeroite fibers are characterized as asbestiform, with geometric mean length of 10 μm, width of 0.54 μm, aspect ratio of 19, and specific surface area of 13.8 (1/μm). Proximity analysis shows dimensional characteristics of balangeroite close to asbestiform anthophyllite. Modeling estimates the average potency of balangeroite as 0.04% (95% CI 0.0058, 0.16) based on dimensional characteristics and 0.05% (95% CI-0.04, 0.24) based on epidemiological data. The available estimate of the fraction of balangeroite in the Balangero mine is very approximate. There were no data for airborne balangeroite fibers from the Balangero mine and no lung burden data are available. All estimates were performed using weight fractions of balangeroite and chrysotile. However, based on reasonable assumptions, of the seven cases of mesothelioma in the cohort, about three cases (43%) can be attributed to fibrous balangeroite.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The presence of different types of mineral fibers in aerosolized materials even in small proportions can explain observed cancer risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 7-8","pages":"185-200"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10027538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction.","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2245658","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2245658","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":" ","pages":"266"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10406792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perturbations in indices of oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage and lung function in chronic exposure to wood dust in Southern Nigeria.","authors":"Augusta Chinyere Nsonwu-Anyanwu, Raymond Ekong Eworo, Unyime Aniekpon Fabian, Uduak Luke, Caroline Chinenyenwa Thomas, Olivia Kamsi Muoka, Unwanaabasi Okon Ufot, Chinyere Adanna Opara Usoro","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2224388","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08958378.2023.2224388","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Oxidative stress (OS) and oxidative DNA damage accruing from chronic exposure to wood dust have been implicated in the development of chronic lung conditions among woodworkers. Indices of OS, inflammation, oxidative DNA damage and lung function in relation to duration of exposure to wood dust were assessed in woodworkers to determine their possible utility as risk evaluation indices for chronic lung conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ninety participants comprising 30 active woodworkers, 30 passive woodworkers, and 30 controls were enrolled into this cross-sectional study. The total plasma peroxides, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidative stress index (OSI), malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione, nitric oxide, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were determined in all participants.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Woodworkers had lower PEFR, TAC, and higher malondialdehyde, OSI, hs-CRP, and 8-OHdG compared to controls (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Active woodworkers had higher malondialdehyde, 8-OHdG, and hs-CRP compared to passive woodworkers (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Increasing duration of exposure to wood dust is associated with higher malondialdehyde, hs-CRP, and 8-OHdG in active woodworkers (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and higher 8-OHdG and hs-CRP in passive woodworkers (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Negative correlation was observed between hs-CRP and TAC (<i>r</i>=-0.367, <i>p</i> = 0.048) in active workers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The association of exposure to wood dust with elevated indices of inflammation, OS, lipid peroxidation, oxidative DNA damage, and reduction in antioxidants and peak expiratory flow rate; and the concomitant increase in oxidative DNA damage and inflammation with increasing duration of exposure suggest that these indices may be useful in predicting woodworkers at risk of development of chronic lung conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":" ","pages":"231-240"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9631305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does long-term exposure to air pollution suppress parasympathetic reactivation after incremental exercise among healthy males and females?","authors":"Sara Pouriamehr,&nbsp;Valiollah Dabidi Roshan,&nbsp;Farimah Shirani","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2022.2149905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2022.2149905","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>As consequences of industrial processes, air pollution has led to increased cardiovascular diseases resulting in mortality. However, there are few pieces of evidence expressing physical fitness and gender impacts in such environments. Regarding long-term exposure to air pollution, this study aimed to determine the effect of physical fitness on post-exercise cardiac parasympathetic reactivation among healthy males and females.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>120 individuals (46 ± 5 years) participated and were categorized into two main groups (<i>n</i> = 60; EG, CG); (1) The experimental group included individuals living in an air-polluted environment; (2) The control group included the citizens of a clean air region; and two physical fitness status subgroups (<i>n</i> = 30; active vs. sedentary) across both sexes. The heart rate (HR) changes at different timing after performing an incremental exercise, and T30 were calculated as metrics of cardiac parasympathetic reactivation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The heart rate recovery values were substantially lower in EG in comparison to CG (<i>p</i> < 0.001) at different timing, while, T30 was significantly greater in residents of the air-polluted city compared to CG (<i>p</i> < 0.001). As for heart rate recovery at the 5th minute, the values were significantly lower in the steady-female group in comparison to the active females living in the air-polluted city (<i>p</i> < 0.01).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Based on our findings, although physical fitness modifies the adverse impacts of long-term exposure to air pollution on post-exercise cardio-parasympathetic reactivation, it appears to parallel the acute/intermediate recovery of the thermoregulatory and vascular systems, among both sexes, it does not prevent them.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 1-2","pages":"14-23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10726066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of subchronic exposure to ambient fine and ultrafine particles on rat motor activity and <i>ex vivo</i> striatal dopaminergic transmission.","authors":"María-de-Los-Angeles Andrade-Oliva,&nbsp;Yazmín Debray-García,&nbsp;Guadalupe-Elide Morales-Figueroa,&nbsp;Juan Escamilla-Sánchez,&nbsp;Omar Amador-Muñoz,&nbsp;Raúl V Díaz-Godoy,&nbsp;Michael Kleinman,&nbsp;Benjamín Florán,&nbsp;José-Antonio Arias-Montaño,&nbsp;Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2022.2140228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2022.2140228","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alterations in dopaminergic transmission are associated with neurological disorders, such as depression, autism, and Parkinson's disease. Exposure of rats to ambient fine (FP) or ultrafine (UFP) particles induces oxidative and inflammatory responses in the striatum, a neuronal nucleus with dense dopaminergic innervation and critically involved in the control of motor activity.<b>Objectives:</b> We used an <i>ex vivo</i> system to evaluate the effect of <i>in vivo</i> inhalation exposure to FP and UFP on motor activity and dopaminergic transmission.<b>Materials and Methods:</b> Male adult Wistar rats were exposed to FP, UFP, or filtered air for 8 weeks (subchronic exposure; 5 h/day, 5 days/week) in a particle concentrator. Motor activity was evaluated using the open-field test. Uptake and release of [³H]-dopamine were assessed in striatal synaptosomes, and dopamine D₂ receptor (D₂R) affinity for dopamine was evaluated by the displacement of [³H]-spiperone binding to striatal membranes.<b>Results:</b> Exposure to FP or UFP significantly reduced spontaneous motor activity (ambulatory distance: FP -25%, UFP -32%; ambulatory time: FP -24%, UFP -22%; ambulatory episodes: FP -22%, UFP -30%), decreased [³H]-dopamine uptake (FP -18%, UFP -24%), and increased, although not significantly, [³H]-dopamine release (113.3 ± 16.3 and 138.6 ± 17.3%). Neither FP nor UFP exposure affected D₂R density or affinity for dopamine.<b>Conclusions:</b> These results indicate that exposure to ambient particulate matter reduces locomotion in rats, which could be related to altered striatal dopaminergic transmission: UFP was more potent than FP. Our results contribute to the evidence linking environmental factors to changes in brain function that could turn into neurological and psychiatric disorders.HIGHLIGHTSYoung adult rats were exposed to fine (FP) or ultrafine (UFP) particles for 40 days.Exposure to FP or UFP reduced motor activity.Exposure to FP or UFP reduced dopamine uptake by striatal synaptosomes.Neither D₂R density or affinity for dopamine was affected by FP or UFP.UFP was more potent than FP to exert the effects reported.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 1-2","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9295248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis and forecasting of air quality index based on satellite data.","authors":"Tinku Singh,&nbsp;Nikhil Sharma,&nbsp;Satakshi,&nbsp;Manish Kumar","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2022.2164388","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2022.2164388","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The air quality index (AQI) forecasts are one of the most important aspects of improving urban public health and enabling society to remain sustainable despite the effects of air pollution. Pollution control organizations deploy ground stations to collect information about air pollutants. Establishing a ground station all-around is not feasible due to the cost involved. As an alternative, satellite-captured data can be utilized for AQI assessment. This study explores the changes in AQI during various COVID-19 lockdowns in India utilizing satellite data. Furthermore, it addresses the effectiveness of state-of-the-art deep learning and statistical approaches for forecasting short-term AQI.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Google Earth Engine (GEE) has been utilized to capture the data for the study. The satellite data has been authenticated against ground station data utilizing the beta distribution test before being incorporated into the study. The AQI forecasting has been explored using state-of-the-art statistical and deep learning approaches like VAR, Holt-Winter, and LSTM variants (stacked, bi-directional, and vanilla).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>AQI ranged from 100 to 300, from moderately polluted to very poor during the study period. The maximum reduction was recorded during the complete lockdown period in the year 2020. Short-term AQI forecasting with Holt-Winter was more accurate than other models with the lowest MAPE scores.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Based on our findings, air pollution is clearly a threat in the studied locations, and it is important for all stakeholders to work together to reduce it. The level of air pollutants dropped substantially during the different lockdowns.</p>","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"35 1-2","pages":"24-39"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9296275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Co-exposure of peptidoglycan and heat-inactivated Asian sand dust exacerbates ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice","authors":"K. Sadakane, T. Ichinose, T. Maki, M. Nishikawa","doi":"10.1080/08958378.2022.2086650","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08958378.2022.2086650","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Aims Asian sand dust (ASD) comprises soil particles, microorganisms, and various chemical components. We examined whether peptidoglycan (PGN), a structural cell wall component of Gram-positive bacteria, exacerbates ASD-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice. Methods The ASD (median diameter ∼4 µm) used was a certified reference material from the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan, derived from Gobi Desert surface soil collected in 2011. BALB/c mice were intratracheally exposed to PGN, heat-inactivated ASD (H-ASD), and ovalbumin (OVA), individually and in combination. Twenty-four hours after the final intratracheal administration, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum samples were collected. Inflammatory cell count, cytokine levels in the BALF, OVA-specific immunoglobulin levels in the serum, and pathological changes in the lungs were analyzed. Results and Discussion After OVA + PGN + H-ASD treatment, the number of eosinophils, neutrophils, and macrophages in the BALF and of eosinophils in the lung tissue was significantly higher than that after OVA + PGN or OVA + H-ASD treatment. Moreover, levels of chemokines and cytokines associated with eosinophil recruitment and activation were significantly higher in the BALF of this group than in that of the OVA + PGN group, and tended to be higher than those in the OVA + H-ASD group. Pathological changes in the lungs were most severe in mice treated with OVA + PGN + H-ASD. Conclusions Our results indicate that PGN is involved in the exacerbation of ASD-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice. Thus, inhalation of ASD containing Gram-positive bacteria may trigger allergic bronchial asthma.","PeriodicalId":13561,"journal":{"name":"Inhalation Toxicology","volume":"34 1","pages":"231 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2022-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43858169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}