Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Differential Cytotoxicity and Inflammatory Responses to Particulate Matter Components in Airway Structural Cells

Faruqui, Nilofar ; Orell, Sofie ; Dondi, Camilla ; Leni, Zaira ; Kalbermatter, Daniel M ; Gefors, Lina LU ; Rissler, Jenny LU ; Vasilatou, Konstantina ; Mudway, Ian S and Kåredal, Monica LU orcid , et al. (2025) In International Journal of Molecular Sciences 26(2).
Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) is a major component of ambient air pollution. PM exposure is linked to numerous adverse health effects, including chronic lung diseases. Air quality guidelines designed to regulate levels of ambient PM are currently based on the mass concentration of different particle sizes, independent of their origin and chemical composition. The objective of this study was to assess the relative hazardous effects of carbonaceous particles (soot), ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and copper oxide (CuO), which are standard components of ambient air, reflecting contributions from primary combustion, secondary inorganic constituents, and non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from vehicular traffic. Human epithelial cells representing... (More)

Particulate matter (PM) is a major component of ambient air pollution. PM exposure is linked to numerous adverse health effects, including chronic lung diseases. Air quality guidelines designed to regulate levels of ambient PM are currently based on the mass concentration of different particle sizes, independent of their origin and chemical composition. The objective of this study was to assess the relative hazardous effects of carbonaceous particles (soot), ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and copper oxide (CuO), which are standard components of ambient air, reflecting contributions from primary combustion, secondary inorganic constituents, and non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from vehicular traffic. Human epithelial cells representing bronchial (BEAS-2B) and alveolar locations (H441 and A549) in the airways, human lung fibroblasts (HFL-1), and rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) were exposed in submerged cultures to different concentrations of particles for 5-72 h. Following exposure, cell viability, metabolic activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and inflammatory responses were analyzed. CuO and, to a lesser extent, soot reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, increased ROS formation, and induced inflammatory responses. Ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate did not elicit any significant cytotoxic responses but induced immunomodulatory alterations at very high concentrations. Our findings demonstrate that secondary inorganic components of PM have a lower hazard cytotoxicity compared with combustion-derived and indicative NEE components, and alveolar epithelial cells are more sensitive to PM exposure. This information should help to inform which sources of PM to target and feed into improved, targeted air quality guidelines.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Particulate Matter/toxicity, Humans, Animals, Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism, Cell Survival/drug effects, Rats, Inflammation/chemically induced, Epithelial Cells/drug effects, Air Pollutants/toxicity, Cell Line, Particle Size, Lung/drug effects, Fibroblasts/drug effects
in
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
volume
26
issue
2
article number
830
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • pmid:39859544
ISSN
1422-0067
DOI
10.3390/ijms26020830
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2a0aa24b-d592-41d9-8718-43a57b3d9238
date added to LUP
2025-01-28 13:57:36
date last changed
2025-01-28 13:57:36
@article{2a0aa24b-d592-41d9-8718-43a57b3d9238,
  abstract     = {{<p>Particulate matter (PM) is a major component of ambient air pollution. PM exposure is linked to numerous adverse health effects, including chronic lung diseases. Air quality guidelines designed to regulate levels of ambient PM are currently based on the mass concentration of different particle sizes, independent of their origin and chemical composition. The objective of this study was to assess the relative hazardous effects of carbonaceous particles (soot), ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and copper oxide (CuO), which are standard components of ambient air, reflecting contributions from primary combustion, secondary inorganic constituents, and non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from vehicular traffic. Human epithelial cells representing bronchial (BEAS-2B) and alveolar locations (H441 and A549) in the airways, human lung fibroblasts (HFL-1), and rat precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) were exposed in submerged cultures to different concentrations of particles for 5-72 h. Following exposure, cell viability, metabolic activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, and inflammatory responses were analyzed. CuO and, to a lesser extent, soot reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, increased ROS formation, and induced inflammatory responses. Ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate did not elicit any significant cytotoxic responses but induced immunomodulatory alterations at very high concentrations. Our findings demonstrate that secondary inorganic components of PM have a lower hazard cytotoxicity compared with combustion-derived and indicative NEE components, and alveolar epithelial cells are more sensitive to PM exposure. This information should help to inform which sources of PM to target and feed into improved, targeted air quality guidelines.</p>}},
  author       = {{Faruqui, Nilofar and Orell, Sofie and Dondi, Camilla and Leni, Zaira and Kalbermatter, Daniel M and Gefors, Lina and Rissler, Jenny and Vasilatou, Konstantina and Mudway, Ian S and Kåredal, Monica and Shaw, Michael and Larsson-Callerfelt, Anna-Karin}},
  issn         = {{1422-0067}},
  keywords     = {{Particulate Matter/toxicity; Humans; Animals; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism; Cell Survival/drug effects; Rats; Inflammation/chemically induced; Epithelial Cells/drug effects; Air Pollutants/toxicity; Cell Line; Particle Size; Lung/drug effects; Fibroblasts/drug effects}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Molecular Sciences}},
  title        = {{Differential Cytotoxicity and Inflammatory Responses to Particulate Matter Components in Airway Structural Cells}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms26020830}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/ijms26020830}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}