Pulmonary inflammatory and fibrotic responses to carbon nanotube exposure in mice

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dong J ; Ma Q
• Description:
  Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are new nanomaterials made of one-atom-thick carbon walls that roll into long and hollow nanostructures. CNT can be a single layer (SWCNT) or concentric multiple layers (MWCNT). Owing to their nanoscale size and unique physicochemical properties, CNT have been developed for a wide range of industrial and commercial applications. However, their small size and fiber-like shape make them respirable and potentially pathogenic, causing inflammatory and fibrotic effects in the lungs similarly to asbestos. Understanding the health effects of exposure to CNT has become increasingly important for risk assessment, regulation, and prevention-through-design in nano safety. Here we analyzed the inflammatory and fibrogenic responses to exposure to MWCNT. In cultured cells, MWCNT caused oxidative stress, secretion of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines and growth factors, and fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transformation in concentration-dependent manners. MWCNT administered to mice by pharyngeal aspiration elicited significant inflammatory and fibrotic pathology in the lungs. The early phase response was characterized by rapid infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages, elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the BAL lavage fluid and lung parenchyma, and increased deposition of collagen fibers in the interstitial space. The pathological alterations were detected as early as day 1 and reached a peak on day 7 through day 14 post-exposure. Thereafter, the lesions gradually became a chronic fibrotic phenotype with significant interstitial fibrosis and formation of granulomas. Granulomas were composed of macrophage-derived epithelioid cells, fibroblasts and collagen fibers that segregate MWCNT from the surrounding tissue. The study demonstrates MWCNT exposed mice offer a unique model for studying lung fibrosis and granuloma formation induced by engineered nanomaterials. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Fibrosis Laboratories Lung Occupational Health Particulate Matter Pathology Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Fibrous-bodies Laboratory-animals Nanotechnology Pathogens Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-system-disorders
• Publisher:
  Keystone Symposia
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045688
• Citation:
  Host Response in Tuberculosis joint with Granulomas in Infectious and Non-Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 22-27, 2015, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Silverthorne, CO: Keystone Symposia, 2015 Jan; :140
• Contact Point Address:
  Qiang Ma, Toxicology and Molecular Biology Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Host Response in Tuberculosis joint with Granulomas in Infectious and Non-Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology, January 22-27, 2015, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:97a850d19e321990f16934e16ebc607f7a0e39b8ad977ddc4eeb085fd385ccd4a98e2d70606629576a9f845d13333ddaad914172ba96c5e55228326e2ad103fe
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201013/cdc_201013_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.14 MB ]