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Concentrated ambient ultrafine particle exposure induces cardiac change in young healthy volunteers
Citation:
SAMET, J. M., A. RAPPOLD, D. GRAFF, W. CASCIO, J. H. Bernsten, Y. T. HUANG, M. HERBST, M. BASSETT, T. MONTILLA, M. HAZUCHA, P. A. BROMBERG, AND R. B. DEVLIN. Concentrated ambient ultrafine particle exposure induces cardiac change in young healthy volunteers. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RESPIRATORY AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE. American Thoracic Society, New York, NY, 179(11):1034-1042, (2009).
Impact/Purpose:
research results
Description:
Exposure to ambient ultrafine particles has been associated with cardiopulmonary toxicity and mortality. Adverse effects specifically linked to ultrafine particles include loss of sympathovagal balance and altered hemostasis. To characterize the effects of ultrafine particles in humans, twenty healthy non-smoking male and female subjects between the ages of 18 and 35 were exposed to filtered air or to an atmosphere in which captured ultrafine «0.16 um) particles were concentrated by a factor of up to 20 fold over ambient levels with the use ofparticle concentrators fitted with size-selective outlets (UFCAP). Subjects underwent bronchoalveolar lavage 18 hrs following each exposure. Cardiovascular endpoints measured included pulmonary function, clinical chemistry and hematological parameters as well as heart rate variability and repolarization indices. Exposure to UFCAP was statistically associated with an increase in frequency domain markers of heart rate variability, specifically indicative of elevated vagal input to the heart. Consistent with this finding were increases in the variance associated with the duration of the QT interval. In addition, UFCAP exposure resulted in a significant increase in blood levels of the fibrin degradation product D-dimer as well as a modest elevation in the inflammatory chemokine IL-8 recovered in the lavage fluid. Taken together, these findings show mild inflammatory and pro-thrombic responses, and are suggestive of alterations in cardiac repolarization induced by UFCAP inhalation.
