Sex Differences in Impacts of Early Gestational and Peri-Adolescent Ozone Exposure on Lung Development in Rats: Implications for Later Life Disease in Humans.

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy may affect fetal growth. Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is associated with reduced lung function in children that can persist into adulthood. Using an established model of asymmetrical FGR in Long-Evans rats, this study investigated sex differences in effects of early life ozone exposure on lung development and maturation. Adverse health effects for i) gestational exposure (with impacts on primary alveolarization), ii) peri-adolescent exposure (with impacts on secondary alveolarization), and iii) cumulative exposure across both periods were evaluated. Notably, female offspring were most affected by gestational ozone exposure, likely because of impaired angiogenesis and corresponding decreases in primary alveolarization. Females had diminished lung capacity, fewer mature alveoli, and medial hypertrophy of small and large pulmonary arteries. Males, especially FGR-prone offspring, were more affected by peri-adolescent ozone exposure. Males had increased ductal areas, likely due to disrupted secondary alveolarization. Altered lung development may increase risk of developing diseases, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pulmonary arterial hypertension disproportionately affects women. In the United States, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease prevalence is increasing, especially in women; and prevalence for both men and women is highest in urbanized areas. This investigation underlines the importance of evaluating results separately by sex, and provides biologic plausibility for later consequences of early-life exposure to ozone, a ubiquitous urban air pollutant.

Gut metabolic changes during pregnancy reveal the importance of gastrointestinal region in sample collection.

INTRODUCTION: Studies of gastrointestinal physiology and the gut microbiome often consider the influence of intestinal region on experimental endpoints. However, this same consideration is not often applied to the gut metabolome. Understanding the contribution of gut regionality may be critically important to the rapidly changing metabolic environments, such as during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: We sought to characterize the difference in the gut metabolome in pregnant mice stratified by region-comparing the small intestine, cecum, and feces. Pre-pregnancy feces were collected to understand the influence of pregnancy on the fecal metabolome. METHODS: Feces were collected from CD-1 female mice before breeding. On gestation day (GD) 18, gut contents were collected from the small intestine, cecum, and descending colon. Metabolites were analyzed with LC-MS/MS using the Biocrates MetaboINDICATOR™ MxP® Quant 500 kit. RESULTS: Of the 104 small molecule metabolites meeting analysis criteria, we found that 84 (81%) were differentially abundant based on gut region. The most significant regional comparison observed was between the cecum and small intestines, with 52 (50%) differentially abundant metabolites. Pregnancy itself altered 41 (39.4%) fecal small molecule metabolites. CONCLUSIONS: The regional variation observed in the gut metabolome are likely due to the microbial and physiological differences between the different parts of the intestines. Additionally, pregnancy impacts the fecal metabolome, which may be due to evolving needs of both the dam and fetus.

Multi-tissue transcriptomic and serum metabolomic assessment reveals systemic implications of acute ozone-induced stress response in male Wistar Kyoto rats.

Air pollutant exposures have been linked to systemic disease; however, the underlying mechanisms between responses of the target tissue and systemic effects are poorly understood. A prototypic inducer of stress, ozone causes respiratory and systemic multiorgan effects through activation of a neuroendocrine stress response. The goal of this study was to assess transcriptomic signatures of multiple tissues and serum metabolomics to understand how neuroendocrine and adrenal-derived stress hormones contribute to multiorgan health outcomes. Male Wistar Kyoto rats (12-13 weeks old) were exposed to filtered air or 0.8 ppm ozone for 4-hours, and blood/tissues were collected immediately post-exposure. Each tissue had distinct expression profiles at baseline. Ozone changed 1,640 genes in lung, 274 in hypothalamus, 2,516 in adrenals, 1,333 in liver, 1,242 in adipose, and 5,102 in muscle (adjusted p-value < 0.1, absolute fold-change > 50%). Serum metabolomic analysis identified 863 metabolites, of which 447 were significantly altered in ozone-exposed rats (adjusted p-value < 0.1, absolute fold change > 20%). A total of 6 genes were differentially expressed in all 6 tissues. Glucocorticoid signaling, hypoxia, and GPCR signaling were commonly changed, but ozone induced tissue-specific changes in oxidative stress, immune processes, and metabolic pathways. Genes upregulated by TNF-mediated NFkB signaling were differentially expressed in all ozone-exposed tissues, but those defining inflammatory response were tissue-specific. Upstream predictor analysis identified common mediators of effects including glucocorticoids, although the specific genes responsible for these predictors varied by tissue. Metabolomic analysis showed major changes in lipids, amino acids, and metabolites linked to the gut microbiome, concordant with transcriptional changes identified through pathway analysis within liver, muscle, and adipose tissues. The distribution of receptors and transcriptional mechanisms underlying the ozone-induced stress response are tissue-specific and involve induction of unique gene networks and metabolic phenotypes, but the shared initiating triggers converge into shared pathway-level responses. This multi-tissue transcriptomic analysis, combined with circulating metabolomic assessment, allows characterization of the systemic inhaled pollutant-induced stress response.

Prenatal ozone exposure programs a sexually dimorphic susceptibility to high-fat diet in adolescent Long Evans rats.

Altered fetal growth, which can occur due to environmental stressors during pregnancy, may program a susceptibility to metabolic disease. Gestational exposure to the air pollutant ozone is associated with fetal growth restriction in humans and rodents. However, the impact of this early life ozone exposure on offspring metabolic risk has not yet been investigated. In this study, fetal growth restriction was induced by maternal inhalation of 0.8 ppm ozone on gestation days 5 and 6 (4 hr/day) in Long Evans rats. To uncover any metabolic inflexibility, or an impaired ability to respond to a high-fat diet (HFD), a subset of peri-adolescent male and female offspring from filtered air or ozone exposed dams were fed HFD (45% kcal from fat) for 3 days. By 6 weeks of age, male and female offspring from ozone-exposed dams were heavier than offspring from air controls. Furthermore, offspring from ozone-exposed dams had greater daily caloric consumption and reduced metabolic rate when fed HFD. In addition to energy imbalance, HFD-fed male offspring from ozone-exposed dams had dyslipidemia and increased adiposity, which was not evident in females. HFD consumption in males resulted in the activation of the protective 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPKα) and sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) pathways in the liver, regardless of maternal exposure. Unlike males, ozone-exposed female offspring failed to activate these pathways, retaining hepatic triglycerides following HFD consumption that resulted in increased inflammatory gene expression and reduced insulin signaling genes. Taken together, maternal ozone exposure in early pregnancy programs impaired metabolic flexibility in offspring, which may increase susceptibility to obesity in males and hepatic dysfunction in females.

Intratracheal instillation of respirable particulate matter elicits neuroendocrine activation.

OBJECTIVE: Inhalation of ozone activates central sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axes. While airway neural networks are known to communicate noxious stimuli to higher brain centers, it is not known to what extent responses generated from pulmonary airways contribute to neuroendocrine activation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Unlike inhalational exposures that involve the entire respiratory tract, we employed intratracheal (IT) instillations to expose only pulmonary airways to either soluble metal-rich residual oil fly ash (ROFA) or compressor-generated diesel exhaust particles (C-DEP). Male Wistar-Kyoto rats (12-13 weeks) were IT instilled with either saline, C-DEP or ROFA (5 mg/kg) and necropsied at 4 or 24 hr to assess temporal effects. RESULTS: IT-instillation of particulate matter (PM) induced hyperglycemia as early as 30-min and glucose intolerance when measured at 2 hr post-exposure. We observed PM- and time-specific effects on markers of pulmonary injury/inflammation (ROFA>C-DEP; 24 hr>4hr) as corroborated by increases in lavage fluid injury markers, neutrophils (ROFA>C-DEP), and lymphocytes (ROFA). Increases in lavage fluid pro-inflammatory cytokines differed between C-DEP and ROFA in that C-DEP caused larger increases in TNF-α whereas ROFA caused larger increases in IL-6. No increases in circulating cytokines occurred. At 4 hr, PM impacts on neuroendocrine activation were observed through depletion of circulating leukocytes, increases in adrenaline (ROFA), and decreases in thyroid-stimulating-hormone, T3, prolactin, luteinizing-hormone, and testosterone. C-DEP and ROFA both increased lung expression of genes involved in acute stress and inflammatory processes. Moreover, small increases occurred in hypothalamic Fkbp5, a glucocorticoid-sensitive gene. CONCLUSION: Respiratory alterations differed between C-DEP and ROFA, with ROFA inducing greater overall lung injury/inflammation; however, both PM induced a similar degree of neuroendocrine activation. These findings demonstrate neuroendocrine activation after pulmonary-only PM exposure, and suggest the involvement of pituitary- and adrenal-derived hormones.

Contributions of particulate and gas phases of simulated burn pit smoke exposures to impairment of respiratory function.

OBJECTIVE: Inhalation of smoke from the burning of waste materials on military bases is associated with increased incidences of cardiopulmonary diseases. This study examined the respiratory and inflammatory effects of acute inhalation exposures in mice to smoke generated by military burn pit-related materials including plywood (PW), cardboard (CB), mixed plastics (PL), and a mixture of these three materials (MX) under smoldering (0.84 MCE) and flaming (0.97 MCE) burn conditions. METHODS: Mice were exposed nose-only for one hour on two consecutive days to whole or filtered smoke or clean air alone. Smoldering combustion emissions had greater concentrations of PM (∼40 mg/m3) and VOCs (∼5-12 ppmv) than flaming emissions (∼4 mg/m3 and ∼1-2 ppmv, respectively); filtered emissions had equivalent levels of VOCs with negligible PM. Breathing parameters were assessed during exposure by head-out plethysmography. RESULTS: All four smoldering burn pit emission types reduced breathing frequency (F) and minute volumes (MV) compared with baseline exposures to clean air, and HEPA filtration significantly reduced the effects of all smoldering materials except CB. Flaming emissions had significantly less suppression of F and MV compared with smoldering conditions. No acute effects on lung inflammatory cells, cytokines, lung injury markers, or hematology parameters were noted in smoke-exposed mice compared with air controls, likely due to reduced respiration and upper respiratory scrubbing to reduce the total deposited PM dose in this short-term exposure. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that material and combustion type influences respiratory responses to burn pit combustion emissions. Furthermore, PM filtration provides significant protective effects only for certain material types.

The contribution of the neuroendocrine system to adaption after repeated daily ozone exposure in rats.

Ozone-induced lung injury/inflammation dissipates despite continued exposure for 3 or more days; however, the mechanisms of adaptation/habituation remain unclear. Since ozone effects are mediated through adrenal-derived stress hormones, which also regulate longevity of centrally-mediated stress response, we hypothesized that ozone-adaptation is linked to diminution of neuroendocrine stress-axes activation and glucocorticoid levels. Male Wistar-Kyoto-rats (12-week-old) were injected with vehicle or a therapeutically-relevant dexamethasone dose (0.01-mg/kg/day; intraperitoneal) for 1-month to determine if suppression of glucocorticoid signaling was linked to adaptation. Vehicle- and dexamethasone-treated rats were exposed to air or 0.8-ppm ozone, 4 h/day × 2 or 4 days to assess the impacts of acute exposure and adaptation, respectively. Dexamethasone reduced thymus and spleen weights, circulating lymphocytes, corticosterone and increased insulin. Ozone increased lavage-fluid protein and neutrophils and decreased circulating lymphocytes at day-2 but not day-4. Ozone-induced hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance and inhibition of beta-cell insulin release occurred at day-1 but not day-3. Ozone depleted circulating prolactin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing-hormone at day-2 but not day-4, suggesting central mediation of adaptation. Adrenal epinephrine biosynthesis gene, Pnmt, was up-regulated after ozone exposure at both timepoints. However, genes involved in glucocorticoid biosynthesis were up-regulated after day-2 but not day-4, suggesting that acute 1- or 2-day ozone-mediated glucocorticoid increase elicits feedback inhibition to dampen hypothalamic stimulation of ACTH release in response to repeated subsequent ozone exposures. Although dexamethasone pretreatment affected circulating insulin, lymphocytes and adrenal genes, it had modest effect on ozone adaptation. In conclusion, ozone adaptation likely involves lack of hypothalamic response due to reduced availability of circulating glucocorticoids.

Social isolation exacerbates acute ozone inhalation induced pulmonary and systemic health outcomes.

Psychosocially-stressed individuals might have exacerbated responses to air pollution exposure. Acute ozone exposure activates the neuroendocrine stress response leading to systemic metabolic and lung inflammatory changes. We hypothesized chronic mild stress (CS) and/or social isolation (SI) would cause neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and metabolic phenotypes that would be exacerbated by an acute ozone exposure. Male 5-week-old Wistar-Kyoto rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups: no stress (NS) (pair-housed, regular-handling); SI (single-housed, minimal-handling); CS (single-housed, subjected to mild unpredicted-randomized stressors [restraint-1 h, tilted cage-1 h, shaking-1 h, intermittent noise-6 h, and predator odor-1 h], 1-stressor/day*5-days/week*8-weeks. All animals then 13-week-old were subsequently exposed to filtered-air or ozone (0.8-ppm) for 4 h and immediately necropsied. CS, but not SI animals had increased adrenal weights. However, relative to NS, both CS and SI had lower circulating luteinizing hormone, prolactin, and follicle-stimulating hormone regardless of exposure (SI > CS), and only CS demonstrated lower thyroid-stimulating hormone levels. SI caused more severe systemic inflammation than CS, as evidenced by higher circulating cytokines and cholesterol. Ozone exposure increased urine corticosterone and catecholamine metabolites with no significant stressor effect. Ozone-induced lung injury, and increases in lavage-fluid neutrophils and IL-6, were exacerbated by SI. Ozone severely lowered circulating thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, and luteinizing hormone in all groups and exacerbated systemic inflammation in SI. Ozone-induced increases in serum glucose, leptin, and triglycerides were consistent across stressors; however, increases in cholesterol were exacerbated by SI. Collectively, psychosocial stressors, especially SI, affected the neuroendocrine system and induced adverse metabolic and inflammatory effects that were exacerbated by ozone exposure.

Pulmonary and vascular effects of acute ozone exposure in diabetic rats fed an atherogenic diet.

Air pollutants may increase risk for cardiopulmonary disease, particularly in susceptible populations with metabolic stressors such as diabetes and unhealthy diet. We investigated effects of inhaled ozone exposure and high-cholesterol diet (HCD) in healthy Wistar and Wistar-derived Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, a non-obese model of type 2 diabetes. Male rats (4-week old) were fed normal diet (ND) or HCD for 12 weeks and then exposed to filtered air or 1.0 ppm ozone (6 h/day) for 1 or 2 days. We examined pulmonary, vascular, hematology, and inflammatory responses after each exposure plus an 18-h recovery period. In both strains, ozone induced acute bronchiolar epithelial necrosis and inflammation on histopathology and pulmonary protein leakage and neutrophilia; the protein leakage was more rapid and persistent in GK compared to Wistar rats. Ozone also decreased lymphocytes after day 1 in both strains consuming ND (~50%), while HCD increased circulating leukocytes. Ozone increased plasma thrombin/antithrombin complexes and platelet disaggregation in Wistar rats on HCD and exacerbated diet effects on serum IFN-γ, IL-6, KC-GRO, IL-13, and TNF-α, which were higher with HCD (Wistar>GK). Ex vivo aortic contractility to phenylephrine was lower in GK versus Wistar rats at baseline(~30%); ozone enhanced this effect in Wistar rats on ND. GK rats on HCD had higher aortic e-NOS and tPA expression compared to Wistar rats. Ozone increased e-NOS in GK rats on ND (~3-fold) and Wistar rats on HCD (~2-fold). These findings demonstrate ways in which underlying diabetes and HCD may exacerbate pulmonary, systemic, and vascular effects of inhaled pollutants.

Peripheral metabolic effects of ozone exposure in healthy and diabetic rats on normal or high-cholesterol diet.

Epidemiological studies show that individuals with underlying diabetes and diet-associated ailments are more susceptible than healthy individuals to adverse health effects of air pollution. Exposure to air pollutants can induce metabolic stress and increase cardiometabolic disease risk. Using male Wistar and Wistar-derived Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats, which exhibit a non-obese type-2 diabetes phenotype, we investigated whether two key metabolic stressors, type-2 diabetes and a high-cholesterol atherogenic diet, exacerbate ozone-induced metabolic effects. Rats were fed a normal control diet (ND) or high-cholesterol diet (HCD) for 12 weeks and then exposed to filtered air or 1.0-ppm ozone (6 h/day) for 1 or 2 days. Metabolic responses were analyzed at the end of each day and after an 18-h recovery period following the 2-day exposure. In GK rats, baseline hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance were exacerbated by HCD vs. ND and by ozone vs. air. HCD also resulted in higher insulin in ozone-exposed GK rats and circulating lipase, aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase in all groups (Wistar>GK). Histopathological effects induced by HCD in the liver, which included macrovesicular vacuolation and hepatocellular necrosis, were more severe in Wistar vs. GK rats. Liver gene expression in Wistar and GK rats fed ND showed numerous strain differences, including evidence of increased lipid metabolizing activity and ozone-induced alterations in glucose and lipid transporters, specifically in GK rats. Collectively, these findings indicate that peripheral metabolic alterations induced by diabetes and high-cholesterol diet can enhance susceptibility to the metabolic effects of inhaled pollutants.

Diets enriched with coconut, fish, or olive oil modify peripheral metabolic effects of ozone in rats.

Dietary factors may modulate metabolic effects of air pollutant exposures. We hypothesized that diets enriched with coconut oil (CO), fish oil (FO), or olive oil (OO) would alter ozone-induced metabolic responses. Male Wistar-Kyoto rats (1-month-old) were fed normal diet (ND), or CO-, FO-, or OO-enriched diets. After eight weeks, animals were exposed to air or 0.8 ppm ozone, 4 h/day for 2 days. Relative to ND, CO- and OO-enriched diet increased body fat, serum triglycerides, cholesterols, and leptin, while all supplements increased liver lipid staining (OO > FO > CO). FO increased n-3, OO increased n-6/n-9, and all supplements increased saturated fatty-acids. Ozone increased total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), induced hyperglycemia, glucose intolerance, and changed gene expression involved in energy metabolism in adipose and muscle tissue in rats fed ND. Ozone-induced glucose intolerance was exacerbated by OO-enriched diet. Ozone increased leptin in CO- and FO-enriched groups; however, BCAA increases were blunted by FO and OO. Ozone-induced inhibition of liver cholesterol biosynthesis genes in ND-fed rats was not evident in enriched dietary groups; however, genes involved in energy metabolism and glucose transport were increased in rats fed FO and OO-enriched diet. FO- and OO-enriched diets blunted ozone-induced inhibition of genes involved in adipose tissue glucose uptake and cholesterol synthesis, but exacerbated genes involved in adipose lipolysis. Ozone-induced decreases in muscle energy metabolism genes were similar in all dietary groups. In conclusion, CO-, FO-, and OO-enriched diets modified ozone-induced metabolic changes in a diet-specific manner, which could contribute to altered peripheral energy homeostasis.

Iron and zinc homeostases in female rats with physically active and sedentary lifestyles.

To determine the effects of repeated physical activity on iron and zinc homeostases in a living system, we quantified blood and tissue levels of these two metals in sedentary and physically active Long-Evans rats. At post-natal day (PND) 22, female rats were assigned to either a sedentary or an active treatment group (n = 10/group). The physically active rats increased their use of a commercially-constructed stainless steel wire wheel so that, by the end of the study (PND 101), they were running an average of 512.8 ± 31.9 (mean ± standard error) min/night. After euthanization, plasma and aliquots of liver, lung, heart, and gastrocnemius muscle were obtained. Following digestion, non-heme iron and zinc concentrations in plasma and tissues were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Concentrations of both non-heme iron and zinc in plasma and liver were significantly decreased among the physically active rats relative to the sedentary animals. In the lung, both metals were increased in concentration among the physically active animals but the change in zinc did not reach significance. Similarly, tissue non-heme iron and zinc levels were both increased in heart and muscle from the physically active group. It is concluded that repeated physical activity in an animal model can be associated with a translocation of both iron and zinc from sites of storage (e.g. liver) to tissues with increased metabolism (e.g. the lung, heart, and skeletal muscle).

Ozone-induced acute phase response in lung versus liver: the role of adrenal-derived stress hormones.

Acute-phase response (APR) is an innate stress reaction to tissue trauma or injury, infection, and environmental insults like ozone (O3). Regardless of the location of stress, the liver has been considered the primary contributor to circulating acute-phase proteins (APPs); however, the mechanisms underlying APR induction are unknown. Male Wistar-Kyoto rats were exposed to air or O3 (1 ppm, 6-hr/day, 1 or 2 days) and examined immediately after each exposure and after 18-hr recovery for APR proteins and gene expression. To assess the contribution of adrenal-derived stress hormones, lung and liver global gene expression data from sham and adrenalectomized rats exposed to air or O3 were compared for APR transcriptional changes. Data demonstrated serum protein alterations for selected circulating positive and negative APPs following 2 days of O3 exposure and during recovery. At baseline, APP gene expression was several folds higher in the liver relative to the lung. O3-induced increases were significant for lung but not liver for some genes including orosomucoid-1. Further, comparative assessment of mRNA seq data for known APPs in sham rats exhibited marked elevation in the lung but not liver, and a near-complete abolishment of APP mRNA levels in lung tissue of adrenalectomized rats. Thus, the lung appears to play a critical role in O3-induced APP synthesis and requires the presence of circulating adrenal-derived stress hormones. The relative contribution of lung versus liver and the role of neuroendocrine stress hormones need to be considered in future APR studies involving inhaled pollutants.

Fish oil and olive oil-enriched diets alleviate acute ozone-induced cardiovascular effects in rats.

Fish oil (FO) and olive oil (OO) supplementations attenuate the cardiovascular responses to inhaled concentrated ambient particles in human volunteers. This study was designed to examine the cardiovascular effects of ozone (O3) exposure and the efficacy of FO and OO-enriched diets in attenuating the cardiovascular effects from O3 exposure in rats. Rats were fed either a normal diet (ND), a diet enriched with 6% FO or OO starting at 4 weeks of age. Eight weeks following the start of these diet, animals were exposed to filtered air (FA) or 0.8 ppm O3, 4 h/day for 2 consecutive days. Immediately after exposure, cardiac function was measured as the indices of left-ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and contractility (dP/dtmax and dP/dtmin) before ischemia. In addition, selective microRNAs (miRNAs) of inflammation, endothelial function, and cardiac function were assessed in cardiac tissues to examine the molecular alterations of diets and O3 exposure. Pre-ischemic LVDP and dP/dtmax were lower after O3 exposure in rats fed ND but not FO and OO. Cardiac miRNAs expressions were altered by both diet and O3 exposure. Specifically, O3-induced up-regulation of miR-150-5p and miR-208a-5p were attenuated by FO and/or OO. miR-21 was up-regulated by both FO and OO after O3 exposure. This study demonstrated that O3-induced cardiovascular responses appear to be blunted by FO and OO diets. O3-induced alterations in miRNAs linked to inflammation, cardiac function, and endothelial dysfunction support these pathways are involved, and dietary supplementation with FO or OO may alleviate these adverse cardiovascular effects in rats.

Ozone Reacts With Carbon Black to Produce a Fulvic Acid-Like Substance and Increase an Inflammatory Effect.

Exposure to ambient ozone has been associated with increased human mortality. Ozone exposure can introduce oxygen-containing functional groups in particulate matter (PM) effecting a greater capacity of the particle for metal complexation and inflammatory effect. We tested the postulate that (1) a fulvic acid-like substance can be produced through a reaction of a carbonaceous particle with high concentrations of ozone and (2) such a fulvic acid-like substance included in the PM can initiate inflammatory effects following exposure of respiratory epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells and an animal model (male Wistar Kyoto rats). Carbon black (CB) was exposed for 72 hours to either filtered air (CB-Air) or approximately 100 ppm ozone (CB-O3). Carbon black exposure to high levels of ozone produced water-soluble, fluorescent organic material. Iron import by BEAS-2B cells at 4 and 24 hours was not induced by incubations with CB-Air but was increased following coexposures of CB-O3 with ferric ammonium citrate. In contrast to CB-Air, exposure of BEAS-2B cells and rats to CB-O3 for 24 hours increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and lung injury, respectively. It is concluded that inflammatory effects of carbonaceous particles on cells can potentially result from (1) an inclusion of a fulvic acid-like substance after reaction with ozone and (2) changes in iron homeostasis following such exposure.

Peat smoke inhalation alters blood pressure, baroreflex sensitivity, and cardiac arrhythmia risk in rats.

Wildland fires (WF) are linked to adverse health impacts related to poor air quality. The cardiovascular impacts of emissions from specific biomass sources are however unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the cardiovascular impacts of a single exposure to peat smoke, a key regional WF air pollution source, and relate these to baroreceptor sensitivity and inflammation. Three-month-old male Wistar-Kyoto rats, implanted with radiotelemeters for continuous monitoring of heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), were exposed once, for 1-hr, to filtered air or low (0.38 mg/m3 PM) or high (4.04 mg/m3) concentrations of peat smoke. Systemic markers of inflammation and sensitivity to aconitine-induced cardiac arrhythmias, a measure of latent myocardial vulnerability, were assessed in separate cohorts of rats 24 hr after exposure. PM size (low peat = 0.4-0.5 microns vs. high peat = 0.8-1.2 microns) and proportion of organic carbon (low peat = 77% vs. high peat = 65%) varied with exposure level. Exposure to high peat and to a lesser extent low peat increased systolic and diastolic BP relative to filtered air. In contrast, only exposure to low peat elevated BRS and aconitine-induced arrhythmogenesis relative to filtered air and increased circulating levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, complement components C3 and C4, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), and white blood cells. Taken together, exposure to peat smoke produced overt and latent cardiovascular consequences that were likely influenced by physicochemical characteristics of the smoke and associated adaptive homeostatic mechanisms.

Independent roles of beta-adrenergic and glucocorticoid receptors in systemic and pulmonary effects of ozone.

Background: The release of catecholamines is preceded by glucocorticoids during a stress response. We have shown that ozone-induced pulmonary responses are mediated through the activation of stress hormone receptors.Objective: To examine the interdependence of beta-adrenergic (ßAR) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs), we inhibited ßAR while inducing GR or inhibited GR while inducing ßAR and examined ozone-induced stress response.Methods: Twelve-week-old male Wistar-Kyoto rats were pretreated daily with saline or propranolol (PROP; ßAR-antagonist; 10 mg/kg-i.p.; starting 7-d prior to exposure) followed-by saline or dexamethasone (DEX) sulfate (GR-agonist; 0.02 mg/kg-i.p.; starting 1-d prior to exposure) and exposed to air or 0.8 ppm ozone (4 h/d × 2-d). In a second experiment, rats were similarly pretreated with corn-oil or mifepristone (MIFE; GR-antagonist, 30 mg/kg-s.c.) followed by saline or clenbuterol (CLEN; ß2AR-agonist; 0.02 mg/kg-i.p.) and exposed.Results: DEX and PROP + DEX decreased adrenal, spleen and thymus weights in all rats. DEX and MIFE decreased and increased corticosterone, respectively. Ozone-induced pulmonary protein leakage, inflammation and IL-6 increases were inhibited by PROP or PROP + DEX and exacerbated by CLEN or CLEN + MIFE. DEX and ozone-induced while MIFE reversed lymphopenia (MIFE > CLEN + MIFE). DEX exacerbated while PROP, MIFE, or CLEN + MIFE inhibited ozone-induced hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance. Ozone inhibited glucose-mediated insulin release.Conclusions: In summary, 1) activating ßAR, even with GR inhibition, exacerbated and inhibiting ßAR, even with GR activation, attenuated ozone-induced pulmonary effects; and 2) activating GR exacerbated ozone systemic effects, but with ßAR inhibition, this exacerbation was less remarkable. These data suggest the independent roles of ßAR in pulmonary and dependent roles of ßAR and GR in systemic effects of ozone.

A single exposure to eucalyptus smoke sensitizes rats to the postprandial cardiovascular effects of a high carbohydrate oral load.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that air pollution exposure primes the body to heightened responses to everyday stressors of the cardiovascular system. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of postprandial responses to a high carbohydrate oral load, a cardiometabolic stressor long used to predict cardiovascular risk, in assessing the impacts of exposure to eucalyptus smoke (ES), a contributor to wildland fire air pollution in the Western coast of the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three-month-old male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed once (1 h) to filtered air (FA) or ES (700 µg/m3 fine particulate matter), generated by burning eucalyptus in a tube furnace. Rats were then fasted for six hours the following morning, and subsequently administered an oral gavage of either water or a HC suspension (70 kcal% from carbohydrate), mimicking a HC meal. Two hours post gavage, cardiovascular ultrasound, cardiac pressure-volume (PV), and baroreceptor sensitivity assessments were made, and pulmonary and systemic markers assessed. RESULTS: ES inhalation alone increased serum interleukin (IL)-4 and nasal airway levels of gamma glutamyl transferase. HC gavage alone increased blood glucose, blood pressure, and serum IL-6 and IL-13 compared to water vehicle. By contrast, only ES-exposed and HC-challenged animals had increased PV loop measures of cardiac output, ejection fraction %, dP/dtmax, dP/dtmin, and stroke work compared to ES exposure alone and/or HC challenge alone. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to a model wildfire air pollution source modifies cardiovascular responses to HC challenge, suggesting air pollution sensitizes the body to systemic triggers.

The influence of maternal and perinatal high-fat diet on ozone-induced pulmonary responses in offspring.

There is growing interest in understanding how maternal diet might affect the sensitivity of offspring to environmental exposures. Previous studies demonstrated that adult rat offspring (approximately 6-months-old) from dams given a high-fat diet (HFD) prior to, during, and after pregnancy displayed elevated pulmonary responses to an acute ozone (O3) exposure. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of maternal and perinatal HFD on pulmonary and metabolic responses to O3 in male and female young-adult offspring (approximately 3-month old). One-month-old F0 female Long-Evans rats commenced HFD (60% kcal from fat) or control diet (CD; 10.5% kcal from fat) and were bred on PND 72. Offspring were maintained on respective HFD or CD until PND 29 when all groups were switched to CD. The 3-months-old female and male offspring (n = 10/group) were exposed to air or 0.8 ppm O3 for 5hr/day for 2 consecutive days. Maternal and perinatal HFD significantly increased body weight and body fat % in offspring regardless of gender. Ozone exposure, but not maternal and perinatal diet, induced hyperglycemia and glucose intolerance in the offspring. Ozone-induced alterations in pulmonary function were exacerbated by maternal and perinatal HFD in both offspring genders. Pulmonary injury/inflammation markers in response to O3 exposure such as bronchoalveolar lavage fluid total protein, lactate dehydrogenase, total cells, and neutrophils were further augmented in offspring (males>females) from dams fed the HFD. Data suggest that maternal and perinatal HFD may enhance the susceptibility of offspring to O3-induced pulmonary injury and that these effects may be sex-specific.

12-hydroxy oleic acid impairs endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation.

Diesel and biodiesel emissions exposures reduce vascular responsiveness in vivo, but the components of PM responsible for this effect are poorly understood. Fatty acids (FAs) represent a significant fraction of the compounds that make up organic combustion by-products, and may be involved in vascular responses following inhalation. It was hypothesized that vascular tissue exposed to a model FA might impair responses to vasoactive agonists ex vivo. Rat aortic rings were exposed to oleic acid or 12-hydroxy oleic acid and responses determined by myography. 12-Hydroxy oleic acid was found to significantly reduce endothelium-dependent vasodilation at sub-cytotoxic concentrations. This approach demonstrates the potential for FAs, especially oxidized forms, to play a role in the vascular responses observed following air pollution exposure.