Laboratory of Experimental Air Pollution, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 455 - 1st floor (room 1220), São Paulo, SP, 01246-903, Brazil.
Laboratory of Experimental Cellular Immunology, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Part Fibre Toxicol. 2021 Mar 25;18(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12989-021-00407-0.
Air pollution causes negative impacts on health. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with diverse clinical manifestations and multifactorial etiology. Recent studies suggest that air pollution can trigger SLE and induce disease activity. However, this association has not been deeply investigated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate whether exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exacerbates SLE manifestations, focusing on renal complications, in a lupus-prone animal model. Female NZBWF1 mice were exposed daily to 600 μg/m of inhaled concentrated ambient particles (CAP) or filtered air (FA). Survival rate, body weight, weight of organs (kidney, spleen, thymus, liver and heart), blood cell count, proteinuria, kidney stereology, renal histopathology, gene expression and oxidative stress were analyzed.
Female NZBW mice exposed to CAP showed decreased survival, increased circulating neutrophils, early onset of proteinuria and increased kidney weight with renal cortex enlargement when compared to NZBW mice exposed to FA.
This work shows that air pollution aggravates some SLE manifestations in lupus-prone mice. These results reinforce the need of reducing air pollutant levels in order to promote a better quality of life for individuals diagnosed with SLE.
空气污染对健康造成负面影响。系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）是一种具有多种临床表现和多因素病因的自身免疫性疾病。最近的研究表明，空气污染可引发 SLE 并导致疾病活动。然而，这种关联尚未得到深入研究。因此，本研究旨在评估细颗粒物（PM2.5）暴露是否会在狼疮易感动物模型中加重 SLE 表现，特别是肾脏并发症。雌性 NZBWF1 小鼠每天暴露于 600μg/m 的吸入浓缩环境颗粒物（CAP）或过滤空气（FA）中。分析了存活率、体重、器官重量（肾脏、脾脏、胸腺、肝脏和心脏）、血细胞计数、蛋白尿、肾脏体视学、肾脏组织病理学、基因表达和氧化应激。
与暴露于 FA 的 NZBW 小鼠相比，暴露于 CAP 的雌性 NZB 小鼠存活率降低，循环中性粒细胞增加，蛋白尿早期发生，肾脏重量增加，肾皮质增大。
这项工作表明，空气污染可加重狼疮易感小鼠的某些 SLE 表现。这些结果强调了需要降低空气污染物水平，以提高确诊为 SLE 的个体的生活质量。
