Department of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS), Zanjan, Iran.
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Jan;26(1):991-999. doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-3783-3. Epub 2018 Nov 19.
Pro-thrombotic and inflammatory changes play an important role in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, resulting from short-term exposure to fine particulate air-pollution. Part of those effects has been attributed to the ultra-fine particles (UFPs) that pass through the lung and directly contact blood-exposed and circulating cells. Despite UFP-induced platelet activation, it is unclear whether the penetrated particles exert any direct effect on endothelial cells. While exposure levels are boosting as a result of world-wide increases in economic development and desertification, which create more air-polluted regions, as well as increase in demands for synthetic UFPs in medicine and various industries, further studies on the health effects of these particles are required. In this study, human pulmonary and cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (MECs) have been exposed to 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 μg/ml suspensions of either a natural (carbon black) or a synthetic (multi-walled carbon nano-tubes) type of UFPs, in vitro. As a result, no changes in the levels of coagulation factor VIII, Von Willebrand factor, Interleukin 8, and P-selectin measured in the cells' supernatant were observed prior to and 6, 12, and 24 h after exposure. In parallel, the spatio-temporal effect of UFPs on cardiac MECs was evaluated by Transmission Electron Microscopy. Despite phagocytic uptake of pure UFPs observed on cellular sections of the treated cells, Weibel-Palade bodies remained intact in shape and similar in number when compared with the untreated cells. Our work shows that carbon itself is a non-toxic carrier for endothelial cells.
促血栓形成和炎症变化在心血管发病率和死亡率中起着重要作用，这是由于短期暴露于细颗粒物空气污染所致。这些影响的一部分归因于超细颗粒（UFPs），它们穿过肺部并直接接触血液暴露和循环细胞。尽管 UFP 诱导血小板活化，但穿透颗粒是否对内皮细胞产生任何直接影响尚不清楚。由于全球经济发展和荒漠化导致暴露水平增加，从而产生更多的空气污染地区，以及对医学和各种行业中超细颗粒的需求增加，因此需要进一步研究这些颗粒对健康的影响。在这项研究中，人类肺和心脏微血管内皮细胞（MEC）已暴露于 0.1、1、10 和 100μg/ml 的天然（炭黑）或合成（多壁碳纳米管）类型的 UFPs 悬浮液中，体外。结果，在暴露前和暴露后 6、12 和 24 小时，未观察到细胞上清液中凝血因子 VIII、血管性血友病因子、白细胞介素 8 和 P-选择素水平的变化。同时，通过透射电子显微镜评估 UFPs 对心脏 MEC 的时空效应。尽管在处理细胞的细胞切片上观察到纯 UFPs 的吞噬摄取，但与未处理的细胞相比，Weibel-Palade 体在形状和数量上仍然保持完整。我们的工作表明，碳本身是内皮细胞的无毒载体。
