Geogenic PM10 exposure exacerbates responses to influenza infection
Section snippets
Background
Particulate matter (PM) continues to be the aspect of air pollution that is most reliably associated with human disease; particularly PM with an aerodynamic diameter of < 10 μm (PM10) (Harrison and Yin, 2000). Ambient PM10 concentrations have been associated epidemiologically with increased hospitalisations for respiratory diseases, including lower respiratory tract infections (Lin et al., 2005, Xu et al., 2013).
Most research has concentrated on the effects of urban PM which contains high levels
Animals
Eight week old female BALB/c mice (Animal Resource Centre, Murdoch, WA, Australia) were housed in a pathogen-free environment with a 12 h:12 h light dark cycle, and provided with food and water ad libitum. All studies were approved by the Telethon Kids Institute Animal Ethics Committee and adhere to the guidelines of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Sample collection
The top 2 cm of a 1 m2 area of surface soil was collected from four remote towns in arid environments across Western
Particle characterisation
All elements measured were detectable in all geogenic PM10 samples. Three elements dominated (Si, Fe and Al), with the remaining elements comprising < 0.1% of the metal content of the samples. Si was the most abundant element in all samples. Fe was the next abundant metal in Newman, Kalgoorlie and Tom Price, while Al was the second most abundant element in Karratha (Table 1). Endotoxin levels ranged from 93.2 to 614.1 EU/50 μL (equivalent to 0.5–15.8 ng/50 μL).
Body weight
Exposure to geogenic PM10 had no effect
Discussion
Exposure to geogenic PM has been linked to exacerbations of respiratory infections (Lin et al., 2005), including influenza (Xu et al., 2013). These studies have, however, been mostly restricted to cross-sectional epidemiological studies or anecdotal observations, and the specific effects of this prevalent environmental exposure have not yet been fully elucidated. The present study suggests for the first time that repeated exposure to geogenic PM, depending on the composition of the particles,
Conclusions
This study demonstrates long-standing implications for communities located in arid regions who are exposed chronically to geogenic PM10. These results build on our previous work showing the effects of acute exposure, and reflect more real-world chronic exposures. Our data suggests that geogenic PM10 is likely to exacerbate the response to respiratory viral infection and it therefore should be given more consideration as an environmental factor with significant impacts on community respiratory
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
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Joint first authors.