Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2019 Dec 1;384:114787. doi: 10.1016/j.taap.2019.114787. Epub 2019 Oct 24.
Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) are widely used in the manufacturing of many commercial products. Workers exposed to ZnO particles may develop metal fume fever. Our previous study suggested that the oropharyngeal aspiration of ZnONPs could cause eosinophilic airway inflammation and increase T helper 2 (Th2) cytokine expression in the absence of allergens in mice. ZnO has been used topically as a sunscreen and a therapeutic agent for dermatological conditions. To understand whether inhalation and topically applied ZnONPs might cause or exert an adjuvant effect on the development of allergic airway inflammation in mice, C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to filtered air or 2.5 mg/m ZnONPs via whole-body inhalation for 5 h a day over 5 days, and BALB/c mice were topically exposed to ZnONPs using modified mouse models of atopic dermatitis (AD) and asthma. Ovalbumin (OVA) solution was used as an allergen in the topical exposure experiments. A significantly increased eosinophil count and mixed Th1/Th2 cytokine expression were detected in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) after ZnONP inhalation. However, only mild eosinophilia and low Th2 cytokine expression were detected in the BALF after oropharyngeal OVA aspiration in the high-dose ZnONP topical treatment group. These results suggest that ZnONP inhalation might play a role in the development of allergic airway inflammation in mice. However, topically applied ZnONPs only play a limited role in the development of allergic airway inflammation in mice.
氧化锌纳米粒子（ZnONPs）广泛应用于许多商业产品的制造。暴露于 ZnO 颗粒的工人可能会患上金属烟雾热。我们之前的研究表明，ZnONPs 的经口吸入可能导致嗜酸性气道炎症，并在没有变应原的情况下增加小鼠辅助性 T 细胞 2（Th2）细胞因子的表达。氧化锌已被局部用作防晒霜和治疗皮肤病的药物。为了了解吸入和局部应用 ZnONPs 是否可能导致或对小鼠过敏性气道炎症的发展产生佐剂作用，C57BL/6 J 小鼠通过全身吸入暴露于过滤空气或 2.5 mg/m ZnONPs，每天 5 小时，共 5 天，BALB/c 小鼠通过特应性皮炎（AD）和哮喘的改良小鼠模型进行局部暴露于 ZnONPs。卵清蛋白（OVA）溶液在局部暴露实验中用作变应原。在 ZnONP 吸入后，支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中检测到嗜酸性粒细胞计数和混合 Th1/Th2 细胞因子表达显著增加。然而，在高剂量 ZnONP 局部治疗组中，经口 OVA 吸入后 BALF 中仅检测到轻度嗜酸性粒细胞增多和低 Th2 细胞因子表达。这些结果表明，ZnONP 吸入可能在小鼠过敏性气道炎症的发展中起作用。然而，局部应用的 ZnONPs 仅在小鼠过敏性气道炎症的发展中起有限作用。
