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AIRWAY EPITHELIAL EFFECTS OF PARTICULATE POLLUTANTS: ROLE OF METAL INTERACTIONS
Citation:
Gallagher, H. E. AND J A. Dye. AIRWAY EPITHELIAL EFFECTS OF PARTICULATE POLLUTANTS: ROLE OF METAL INTERACTIONS. Presented at Southeast District Conference of TriBeta, Washington, DC, April 10-11, 2003.
Description:
Numerous epidemiologic studies have demonstrated positive associations with particulate matter (PM) air pollution and daily respiratory morbidity - including exacerbations of asthma. Data are needed to elucidate which PM subcomponents may be mediating disease exacerbation in individuals with inflammatory airways disease. To this end, rat tracheal epithelial (RTE) cell cultures were used to assess the degree of epithelial injury induced by exposure to certain PM-associated transition metals, both alone and in combination. Metal sulfate solutions were administered in single and combination exposures on both immature and mature RTE cell cultures. Data indicated that combined metal exposures resulted in significantly greater epithelial injury than exposure of any single metal. This study provides preliminary data important to investigate PM-associated transition metal effects in RTE cell cultures and indicates that metal interactions appear to play a significant role in the airway epithelial injury induced by exposure to certain PM-