HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 293/4/L1053    most recent 00131.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kendall, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kendall, M.

Fine airborne urban particles (PM_2.5) sequester lung surfactant and amino acids from human lung lavage

Public Health, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey

Submitted 3 April 2007 ; accepted in final form 25 June 2007

Components of surfactant act as opsonins and enhance phagocytosis of bacteria; whether this process occurs with atmospheric fine particles has not been shown. We have studied the interactions of fine particles (urban PM_2.5) and surfactant removed from normal human lungs by lavage, using a surface analysis technique. The aim was to identify which of the chemical components of brochoalveolar lavage (BAL) deposit on the surfaces of urban PM_2.5. Deposition of surfactant components on urban PM_2.5 surfaces was reported in previous studies, but molecular identification and relative quantification was not possible using simple data analysis. In this study, we were able to identify adsorbed components by applying an appropriate statistical technique, factor analysis. In this study, the most strongly associated mass fragment on PM_2.5 surfaces exposed to BAL (and undetected on both untreated samples and saline controls) was di-palmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine, a component of lung surfactant. Amino acids were also strongly associated with BAL-exposed PM_2.5 surfaces and not other sample types. Thirteen mass fragments were identified, diagnostic of the amino acids alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, serine, and valine. This study provides evidence that lung surfactant and amino acids related to opsonin proteins adsorb to nonbiological particle surfaces exposed to human lung lining fluid. Disruption of normal surfactant function, both physical and immunological, is possible but unproven. Further work on this PM-opsonin interaction is recommended.

bronchoalveolar lavage

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Muhlfeld, B. Rothen-Rutishauser, F. Blank, D. Vanhecke, M. Ochs, and P. Gehr Interactions of nanoparticles with pulmonary structures and cellular responses Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, May 1, 2008; 294(5): L817 - L829. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]