He Jing, Wang Tong, Li Han, Zhou Yemian, Liu Yun, Xu An
Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China.
Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Control Technology, High Magnetic Field Laboratory, HFIPS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
Toxics. 2025 May 28;13(6):446. doi: 10.3390/toxics13060446.
The combined pollution of fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O) is increasing synergistically on a global scale, posing a serious threat to human health. However, the joint toxicity and the underlying mechanisms associated with co-exposure to PM and O remain poorly understood. Through complementary in vivo animal models and in vitro cellular assays, the results demonstrate that although there was no synergistic cytotoxicity effect between PM and O, the presence of O significantly enhanced the genotoxicity of PM by inducing severe DNA double-strand breaks. Furthermore, O exposure significantly exacerbated the bioaccumulation of PM by disturbing the cellular membrane integrity, thus leading to synergistic toxicity in bronchial cells and mouse lungs. Astaxanthin (AST) effectively antagonized the adverse effects of PM and O co-exposure by maintaining cell membrane integrity. These findings enhance our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms induced by co-exposure to PM and O, and provide a promising therapeutic strategy for treating respiratory diseases caused by unavoidable exposure to these pollutants.
细颗粒物（PM）和臭氧（O）的复合污染在全球范围内正协同增加，对人类健康构成严重威胁。然而，与PM和O共同暴露相关的联合毒性及其潜在机制仍知之甚少。通过体内动物模型和体外细胞实验的互补，结果表明，虽然PM和O之间没有协同细胞毒性作用，但O的存在通过诱导严重的DNA双链断裂显著增强了PM的遗传毒性。此外，O暴露通过扰乱细胞膜完整性显著加剧了PM的生物累积，从而导致支气管细胞和小鼠肺部的协同毒性。虾青素（AST）通过维持细胞膜完整性有效拮抗了PM和O共同暴露的不利影响。这些发现增进了我们对PM和O共同暴露所诱导的病理生理机制的理解，并为治疗因不可避免地暴露于这些污染物而导致的呼吸系统疾病提供了一种有前景的治疗策略。
