Qin Runan, Wang Yue, Wang Shengyuan, Xia Bing, Xin Rui, Li Chang, Wu Yonghui
Department of Occupational Health, Public Health College, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.
Toxicol Ind Health. 2019 Mar;35(3):239-247. doi: 10.1177/0748233719828589.
Nickel (Ni) is a metal known to be a human carcinogen that occupational workers can be exposed to during the process of Ni refining. We investigated the molecular mechanism of inflammation that is induced by Ni-refining dust in a factory, using concentrations of 0, 25, 50, and 100 µg/mL for 24 h and 48 h, in vitro. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCR), Western blot analysis, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to detect the transcriptional expression levels of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Results showed that Ni-refining dust decreased the secretion of IL-6 under the experimental conditions. In contrast, Ni-refining dust activated NF-κB expression and stimulated the secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β, iNOS, and COX-2 in a dose- and time-dependent manner. To summarize, we demonstrated that exposure to Ni-refining dust can induce the expression of NF-κB in NIH/3T3 cells and the secretion of inflammation related factors. This provides a new basis for further study of the inflammatory effects of Ni-refining dust.
镍（Ni）是一种已知的人类致癌物，职业工人在镍精炼过程中可能会接触到。我们在体外使用0、25、50和100µg/mL的浓度处理24小时和48小时，研究了工厂中镍精炼粉尘诱导炎症的分子机制。采用定量实时聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）、蛋白质免疫印迹分析和酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）来检测核因子κB（NF-κB）、肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、诱导型一氧化氮合酶（iNOS）和环氧化酶-2（COX-2）的转录表达水平。结果表明，在实验条件下，镍精炼粉尘降低了IL-6的分泌。相反，镍精炼粉尘以剂量和时间依赖性方式激活NF-κB表达并刺激TNF-α、IL-1β、iNOS和COX-2的分泌。总之，我们证明了接触镍精炼粉尘可诱导NIH/3T3细胞中NF-κB的表达以及炎症相关因子的分泌。这为进一步研究镍精炼粉尘的炎症效应提供了新的依据。
