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ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE LUNG INJURY INDUCED BY PM 2.5 SAMPLES FROM TWO CITIES IN GERMANY WITH DIFFERING INCIDENCE OF ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA
Citation:
Bishop, L. R., J. Heinrich, MJK Selgrade, AND M I. Gilmour. ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE LUNG INJURY INDUCED BY PM 2.5 SAMPLES FROM TWO CITIES IN GERMANY WITH DIFFERING INCIDENCE OF ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA. Presented at SOT, San Francisco, CA, March 25-29, 2001.
Description:
ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE LUNG INJURY INDUCED BY PM 2.5 SAMPLES FROM TWO CITIES IN GERMANY WITH DIFFERING INCIDENCE OF ALLERGIES AND ASTHMA.
LR Bishop, J Heinrich*, MK Selgrade & MI Gilmour.
Experimental Toxicology Division, ORD/ NHEERL, U.S. EPA, RTP, NC. *GSF, Neuherberg, Germany.
Epidemiological studies in East Germany have shown that children (5-14 yrs old) who lived most of their lives in an industrial city (Hettstedt) have a 50% increased prevalence of allergies and bronchitis compared to a similar cohort of children who lived in a neighboring city (Zerbst) with less industrial pollution. The objective of this study was to develop a technique to extract particles from PM 2.5 filter samples from both cities, and compare the pulmonary toxicity of the two extracts. PM 2.5 filters obtained from each of the cities during the period of January to June 1999 were pre-wetted with ethanol and extracted by point sonication in water for 30 minutes. Forty filter extracts from each city were then pooled, freeze dried, and resuspended in saline to 2 mg/ml. BALB/C mice were instilled with 100 mg PM in 50 ml saline and the lungs were lavaged 18 hrs later for assessment of pulmonary inflammatory cells, biochemical markers of edema (protein), lung injury (lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], N-acetyl b D glucosaminidase [NAG]), and pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1, MIP2, IL6, TNF-a). The PM 2.5 extract from Hettstedt resulted in increased PMNs, BAL protein and NAG as compared to mice instilled with saline, blank filter extracts, or the extract from Zerbst. The cytokines, IL-6 and IL-1 beta, were also elevated after exposure to Hettstedt extract in comparison to Zerbst extract, while no differences were observed in MIP-2 and TNF-a. The data show that PM2.5 from Hettstedt is more toxic on a mass basis than samples from Zerbst, and that these effects were associated with increased inflammation. Future studies will determine the chemical content of the extracts from each city and whether they have differential effects in an animal model of allergic lung disease. (This abstract does not reflect EPA policy.)