1. THE EFFECTS OF INHALATION OF DIESEL EXHAUST ON MURINE MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTION.
- Author
-
Hiramatsu, Kumiko, Saito, Yoshinobu, Sakakibara, Keitaro, Azuma, Arata, Kudoh, Shoji, Takizawa, Hajime, and Sugawara, Isamu
- Subjects
DIESEL fuels ,MOTOR fuels ,AIR pollution ,LUNG diseases ,DISEASES ,DNA polymerases - Abstract
The authors investigated the effects of inhalation of diesel exhaust (DE) on murine mycobacterial infection in vivo. Eight-week-old female BALB/c mice were exposed to DE (3 mg/m 3 of diesel exhaust particles [DEPs]) for 1 month, 2 months, or 6 months (for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week). Control mice were housed in a clean room for the same periods. On the day following the last DE exposure, control mice and DE-exposed mice were aerially infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1?×?10 6 colony-forming units (CFU), Kurono strain). At 7 weeks after mycobacterial infection, the authors examined the lung tissues for histopathological changes and performed reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to measure the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of several proinflammatory cytokines and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Then, the homogenates of lungs and spleens were cultured on 1% ( v / v ) Ogawa's egg slant medium, and after a 4-week incubation period at 37°C, colonies on the medium were counted. After 1 month of DE exposure, the mycobacterial infection had slightly ameliorated. After 2 months of DE exposure, the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-12p40, interferon (IFN)-?, and iNOS mRNAs were slightly increased. However, after 6 months of DE exposure, the expression levels of IL-1ß, IL-12p40, IFN-?, and iNOS mRNAs were decreased, and the infection as measured by increased lung burden (CFU) actually increased. These results indicate that long-term DE exposure may increase pulmonary mycobacterial burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2005
- Full Text
- View/download PDF