Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Agoralaan Building D, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35 blok d-box 7001, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
Part Fibre Toxicol. 2023 May 18;20(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12989-023-00531-z.
Airborne pollution particles have been shown to translocate from the mother's lung to the fetal circulation, but their distribution and internal placental-fetal tissue load remain poorly explored. Here, we investigated the placental-fetal load and distribution of diesel engine exhaust particles during gestation under controlled exposure conditions using a pregnant rabbit model. Pregnant dams were exposed by nose-only inhalation to either clean air (controls) or diluted and filtered diesel engine exhaust (1 mg/m) for 2 h/day, 5 days/week, from gestational day (GD) 3 to GD27. At GD28, placental and fetal tissues (i.e., heart, kidney, liver, lung and gonads) were collected for biometry and to study the presence of carbon particles (CPs) using white light generation by carbonaceous particles under femtosecond pulsed laser illumination.
CPs were detected in the placenta, fetal heart, kidney, liver, lung and gonads in significantly higher amounts in exposed rabbits compared with controls. Through multiple factor analysis, we were able to discriminate the diesel engine exposed pregnant rabbits from the control group taking all variables related to fetoplacental biometry and CP load into consideration. Our findings did not reveal a sex effect, yet a potential interaction effect might be present between exposure and fetal sex.
The results confirmed the translocation of maternally inhaled CPs from diesel engine exhaust to the placenta which could be detected in fetal organs during late-stage pregnancy. The exposed can be clearly discriminated from the control group with respect to fetoplacental biometry and CP load. The differential particle load in the fetal organs may contribute to the effects on fetoplacental biometry and to the malprogramming of the fetal phenotype with long-term effects later in life.
已有研究表明，空气中的污染颗粒可从母体肺部转移到胎儿循环中，但这些颗粒在胎盘内的分布及其在胎盘-胎儿组织中的内部负荷仍知之甚少。在此，我们通过控制暴露条件下的妊娠兔模型，研究了妊娠期间母体吸入柴油机排气颗粒后的胎盘-胎儿负荷及其分布。妊娠母兔通过鼻腔暴露于清洁空气（对照组）或稀释和过滤的柴油机排气（1mg/m）中，每天 2 小时，每周 5 天，从妊娠第 3 天（GD3）到第 27 天（GD27）。在 GD28，收集胎盘和胎儿组织（即心脏、肾脏、肝脏、肺和性腺）进行生物测量，并使用飞秒脉冲激光照射下碳颗粒的白光产生来研究碳颗粒（CPs）的存在。
与对照组相比，暴露组的胎盘、胎儿心脏、肾脏、肝脏、肺和性腺中 CPs 的含量明显更高。通过多因素分析，我们能够考虑到与胎-胎盘生物测量和 CP 负荷相关的所有变量，将暴露于柴油机的妊娠兔与对照组区分开来。我们的研究结果未显示出性别效应，但暴露和胎儿性别之间可能存在潜在的相互作用效应。
研究结果证实了母体吸入柴油机排气中的 CPs 可转移至胎盘，并可在妊娠晚期胎儿器官中检测到。与对照组相比，暴露组在胎-胎盘生物测量和 CP 负荷方面可明显区分开来。胎儿器官中的差异颗粒负荷可能导致胎-胎盘生物测量的变化，并导致胎儿表型的编程失调，进而在以后的生活中产生长期影响。
