a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Effects Laboratory Division , Pathology and Physiology Research Branch , Morgantown , West Virginia , USA.
J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2013;76(15):922-36. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2013.825571.
Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) are a rather new and unexplored variety of carbon nanotubes. Previously conducted studies established that exposure to a variety of carbon nanotubes produced lung inflammation and fibrosis in mice after pharyngeal aspiration. However, the bioactivity of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT) has not been determined. In this study, the hypothesis that DWCNT would induce pulmonary toxicity was explored by analyzing the pulmonary bioactivity of DWCNT. To test this hypothesis, C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to DWCNT by pharyngeal aspiration. Mice underwent whole-lung lavage (WLL) to assess pulmonary inflammation and injury, and lung tissue was examined histologically for development of pulmonary disease as a function of dose and time. The results showed that DWCNT exposure produced a dose-dependent increase in WLL polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), indicating that DWCNT exposure initiated pulmonary inflammation. DWCNT exposure also produced a dose-dependent rise in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, as well as albumin levels, in WLL fluid, indicating that DWCNT exposure promoted cytotoxicity as well as decreases in the integrity of the blood-gas barrier in the lung, respectively. In addition, at 7 and 56 d postexposure, the presence of significant alveolitis and fibrosis was noted in mice exposed to 40 μg/mouse DWCNT. In conclusion, this study provides insight into previously uninvestigated pulmonary bioactivity of DWCNT exposure. Data indicate that DWCNT exposure promotes inflammation, injury, and fibrosis in the lung.
双壁碳纳米管 (DWCNT) 是一种相当新颖且尚未被充分研究的碳纳米管。先前的研究表明,经口吸入多种碳纳米管后,可导致小鼠肺部炎症和纤维化。然而,双壁碳纳米管 (DWCNT) 的生物活性尚未确定。在这项研究中,我们通过分析 DWCNT 的肺部生物活性来探索 DWCNT 是否会引起肺部毒性的假设。为了验证这一假设,我们通过经口吸入的方式使 C57Bl/6 小鼠接触 DWCNT。对小鼠进行全肺灌洗 (WLL) 以评估肺部炎症和损伤,并通过组织学检查评估肺组织疾病的发展,以评估剂量和时间的影响。结果表明,DWCNT 暴露会导致 WLL 中多形核白细胞 (PMN) 呈剂量依赖性增加,表明 DWCNT 暴露会引发肺部炎症。DWCNT 暴露还会导致 WLL 中乳酸脱氢酶 (LDH) 活性以及白蛋白水平呈剂量依赖性升高,这表明 DWCNT 暴露会促进细胞毒性以及肺内血-气屏障完整性的降低。此外,在暴露后 7 天和 56 天,暴露于 40μg/只 DWCNT 的小鼠出现了明显的肺泡炎和纤维化。总之,本研究深入探讨了 DWCNT 暴露的未被充分研究的肺部生物活性。数据表明,DWCNT 暴露可促进肺部炎症、损伤和纤维化。