Reconquista river air particles induces oxidative imbalance and triggers apoptosis in lung mice

ASTORT F.; SITTNER M.; FERRARO S.; ORONA N.; MAGLIONE G.; DE LA HOZ A.; TASAT D.R

buenos Aires

Congreso; Society of Free Radical Biology and Medicine-SAG (SRFBM), 14-17 Octubre 2013, Facultad de Derecho, UBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2013

SRFBM

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the main air ambient contaminants. Epidemiological studies have shown that PM can increase respiratory morbidity and cardiovascular mortality, being the lungs the main target organ to PM body entrance. Even more, several studies have demonstrated that PM has broad toxicity spectra depending on its size, morphology and chemical composition. Reconquista River is the second heaviest polluted river from Buenos Aires and people living around its basin are constantly exposed to polluted water, soil and air (RR-PMa). However, RR-PMa (ultrafine particles) has not been characterized and still more, lung RR-PMa toxicity has not been studied yet. Therefore, we analyzed: RR-PMa morphochemical characteristic and RR-PMa lung effects after intranasal instillation exposure by means of oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. A single acute exposure of RR-PMa (1mg/kg) after 24 h caused significant enhancement in: bronchoalveolar total cell number and polymorphonuclear fraction; superoxide anion; pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF and IL-6; induction of apoptosis (activation of caspase 3 and increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage). It was also observed that acute exposure to RR-PMa resulted in slight decreases of antioxidant enzymes SOD and CAT. Data demonstrate that RR-PMa induce lung toxicity, representing a potential hazard to human health.