Inhalation toxicity study on rats exposed to titanium tetrachloride atmospheric hydrolysis products for two years

Current Techniques of Water Solubility Improvement for Antioxidant Compounds and Their Correlation with Its Activity: Molecular Pharmaceutics

The aqueous solubility of a drug is important in the oral formulation because the drug can be absorbed from intestinal sites after being dissolved in the gastrointestinal fluid, leading to its bioavailability. Almost 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients are poorly water-soluble, including antioxidant compounds. This makes antioxidant activity inefficient in preventing disease, particularly for orally administered formulations. Although several investigations have been carried out to improve the solubility of antioxidant compounds, there is still limited research fully discussing the subject. Therefore, this study aimed to provide an overview and discussion of the issues related to the methods that have been used to improve the solubility and activity of antioxidant compounds. Articles were found using the keywords "antioxidant" and "water solubility improvement" in the Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. The selected articles were published within the last five years to ensure all information was up-to-date with the same objectives. The most popular methods of the strategies employed were solid dispersion, co-amorphous, and nanoparticle drug delivery systems, which were used to enhance the solubility of antioxidant compounds. These investigations produced impressive results, with a detailed discussion of the mechanism of improvement in the solubility and antioxidant activity of the compounds developed. This review shows that the strategies used to increase the solubility of antioxidant compounds successfully improved their antioxidant activity with enhanced free radical scavenging abilities.

Inhaled nanoparticles-An updated review

We are providing an update to our previously published review paper on inhaled nanoparticles, thus updating with the most recent reports in the literature. The field of nanotechnology may hold the promise of significant improvements in the health and well-being of patients, as well as in manufacturing technologies. The knowledge of the impact of nanomaterials on public health is limited so far. This paper reviews the unique size-controlled properties of nanomaterials, their disposition in the body after inhalation, and the factors influencing the fate of inhaled nanomaterials. The physiology of the lungs makes it an ideal target organ for non-invasive local and systemic drug delivery, especially for protein and poorly water-soluble drugs that have low oral bioavailability via oral administration. More recently, inhaled nanoparticles have been reported to improve therapeutic efficacies and decrease undesirable side effects via pulmonary delivery. The potential application of pulmonary drug delivery of nanoparticles to the lungs, specifically in context of published results reported on nanomaterials in environmental epidemiology and toxicology is reviewed in this paper. This article presents updated delivery systems, process technologies, and potential of inhaled nanoparticles for local and systemic therapies administered to the lungs. The authors acknowledge the contributions of Wei Yang in our 2008 paper published in this journal.

Alveolar Proteinosis and Phospholipidoses of the Lungs

Three pulmonary disease conditions result from the accumulation of phospholipids in the lung. These conditions are the human lung disease known as pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, the lipoproteinosis that arises in the lungs of rats during acute silicosis, and the phospholipidoses induced by numerous cationic amphiphilic therapeutic agents. In this paper, the status of phospholipid metabolism in the lungs during the process of each of these lung conditions has been reviewed and possible mechanisms for their establishment are discussed. Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is characterized by the accumulation of tubular myelin-like multilamellated structures in the alveoli and distal airways of patients. These structures appear to be formed by a process of spontaneous assembly involving surfactant protein A and surfactant phospholipids. Structures similar to tubular myelin-like multilamellated structures can be seen in the alveoli of rats during acute silicosis and, as with the human condition, both surfactant protein A and surfactant phospholipids accumulate in the alveoli. Excessive accumulation of surfactant protein A and surfactant phospholipids in the alveoli could arise from their overproduction and hypersecretion by a subpopulation of Type II cells that are activated by silica, and possibly other agents. Phospholipidoses caused by cationic amphiphilic therapeutic agents arise as a result of their inhibition of phospholipid catabolism. Inhibition of phospholipases results in the accumulation of phospholipids in the cytoplasm of alveolar macrophages and other cells. While inhibition of phospholipases by these agents undoubtedly occurs, there are many anomalous features, such as the accumulation of extracellular phospholipids and surfactant protein A, that cannot be accounted for by this simplistic hypothesis.

Chronic Inhalation Toxicity and Carcinogenicity Study on Potassium Octatitanate Fibers (TISMO) in Rats

A chronic inhalation toxicity/carcinogenicity study of potassium octatitanate fibers (TISMO) was conducted in male Fischer 344 rats. Groups of 135 rats were exposed via whole-body inhalation to 0, 20, 60, or 200 WHO fibers/cc of TISMO, 6 h/day, 5 days/w for 24 mo. Six of 30 subgroup rats were killed after 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 mo of exposure for lung burden evaluations. Another 30 subgroup rats were removed from the exposure chambers after 6 mo of exposure, placed in clean air, and from this group 6 rats were killed at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 mo later to study lung clearance. The remaining 75 rats in each group were subjected to 24 mo of exposure for chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity study. Rats exposed to HEPA-filtered air (chamber control) were used as a negative control in each study. The lung burden results indicated that a time point of equilibrium between lung burden and lung clearance at 20 WHO fibers/cc exposure was attained after approximately 18 mo of exposure. There was no difference in the number of WHO fiber from the lungs between 18 and 24 mo at 20 WHO fibers/cc exposure. But disproportional rapid increase in lung burden at 200 WHO fibers/cc exposure appeared to be saturation of lung clearance mechanism resulting from lung overloading. At 200 WHO fibers/cc exposure, approximately 22.9 and 70.5 million WHO fibers were retained in the lung after 3 and 6 mo of exposure, respectively, but lungs revealed normal in appearance. However, alveolar walls enclosing aggregated TISMO-laden alveolar macrophages (AMs) showed fibrotic thickening and approximately 197.3 million WHO fibers were retained in the lungs after 18 mo of exposure. Inhaled fibers were rapidly cleared during 3- and 6-mo recovery periods, and thereafter gradually progressive fiber reduction was observed throughout 18 mo of recovery. The number of WHO fibers decreased by approximately 72%, 74%, and 79% in the 200, 60, and 20 WHO fibers/cc groups, respectively, at the end of the 18-mo recovery period following 6 mo of exposure. Although inhaled TISMO fibers in the 20 WHO fibers/cc exposure group were phagocytized by alveolar macrophages (AMs) the lung morphology appeared normal throughout 24 mo of exposure. At 60 WHO fibers/cc exposure, a slight dose- and time-dependent increase in TISMO-laden AMs was observed throughout 3, 6, and 12 mo of exposure and some alveoli containing aggregated TISMO-laden AMs showed alveolar wall thickening at 18 mo of exposure and minimal alveolar fibrosis at 24 mo of exposure. The exposure concentration is interpreted as a borderline effect level. At 200 WHO fibers/cc exposure, lungs preserved normal architecture at 3 and 6 mo of exposure. Some alveolar walls enclosing aggregates of TISMO-laden AMs were slightly thickened after 12 mo of exposure and revealed slight alveolar fibrosis after 18 and 24 mo of exposure. Neither exposure related-pulmonary neoplasm nor mesothelioma was observed in 24 mo of exposure. The 20 WHO fibers/cc exposure concentration is considered to be a no-observable-adverse-effect level (NOAEL). TISMO exposure limits of 1 WHO fiber/cc would not impose a significant health hazard to humans in the workplace based on the animal experiments and medical surveys on workers.

Inhaled nanoparticles--a current review

The field of nanotechnology may hold the promise of significant improvements in the health and well being of patients, as well as in manufacturing technologies. The knowledge of this impact of nanomaterials on public health is limited so far. This paper briefly reviews the unique size-controlled properties of nanomaterials, their disposition in the body after inhalation, and the factors influencing the fate of inhaled nanomaterials. The physiology of the lung makes it an ideal target organ for non-invasive local and systemic drug delivery, especially for protein and poorly water-soluble drugs that have low oral bioavailability via oral administration. The potential application of pulmonary drug delivery of nanoparticles to the lungs, specifically in context of published results reported on nanomaterials in environmental epidemiology and toxicology is reviewed in this paper.

Characterization and Reclassification of Titanium Dioxide-Related Pulmonary Lesions

OBJECTIVE

Using current diagnostic criteria, this work summarizes the microscopic review of 16 proliferative squamous lesions, previously diagnosed as cystic keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, in the lungs of rats from a 2-year inhalation study with pigment-grade titanium dioxide particles.

METHODS

In the aftermath of two international pathology workshops designed, in part, to establish histological criteria for classifying pulmonary keratin lesions, these lesions were evaluated by four pathologists using current diagnostic criteria.

RESULTS

Unanimous agreement was reached as to the diagnosis of each of the lesions. Two of the lesions were diagnosed as squamous metaplasia and one as a poorly keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma. The remaining 13 lesions were diagnosed as non-neoplastic pulmonary keratin cysts.

CONCLUSIONS

These keratin cysts are a species-specific lesion that is unique to the rat lung under conditions of particle overload exposure.

[Atypical pulmonary nodules in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis]

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with a wide variety of lung manifestations, including rheumatoid nodules. We report the case of woman with a diagnosis of RA who underwent thoracic computed axial tomography (CAT) scan because of cough and effort dyspnea. The CAT scan revealed the presence of small lung nodules. After biopsy, these nodules were diagnosed as cholesterol granulomas.

Nanoparticles - known and unknown health risks

Manmade nanoparticles range from the well-established multi-ton production of carbon black and fumed silica for applications in plastic fillers and car tyres to microgram quantities of fluorescent quantum dots used as markers in biological imaging. As nano-sciences are experiencing massive investment worldwide, there will be a further rise in consumer products relying on nanotechnology. While benefits of nanotechnology are widely publicised, the discussion of the potential effects of their widespread use in the consumer and industrial products are just beginning to emerge. This review provides comprehensive analysis of data available on health effects of nanomaterials.

Rat lung tumors induced by exposure to selected poorly soluble nonfibrous particles

Rodent bioassays have been used to assess the carcinogenicity of several inhaled, poorly soluble, nonfibrous particles that vary in toxicity and carcinogenic potency. There is substantial published information from chronic inhalation bioassays of diesel exhaust, carbon black, titanium dioxide, talc, and coal dust. This review summarizes data from studies with exposures for 2 yr or more using these 5 materials. The review has four objectives: (1) to summarize the current information available from these bioassays concerning exposure-dose-carcinogenic response in rats, (2) to summarize the pathologic and phenotypic features of the neoplastic response in rats, (3) to examine possible strain- and gender-related differences, and (4) to compare the neoplastic responses of rat to those of other species exposed to these materials.

Current perspectives on particulate induced pulmonary tumours

1. Chronic exposure to insoluble particulates can lead to the development of pulmonary tumours. These have been classified as broncho-alveolar or squamous/epidermoid according to their histopathological characteristics and have been reported in inhalation studies in rats of materials ranging from diesel exhaust and silica to titanium dioxide. 2. The sequence of changes within the rat lung leading to tumours has been characterised. It is apparent that one prerequisite is that the lung load of the particulate matter must exceed the normal clearance capacity, either by overloading the normal alveolar macrophage mediated mechanism or by induction of toxicity with materials such as silica. This results in inflammatory responses, including, or resulting in, epithelial hypertrophy and/or hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia. The persistence of these tissue responses over chronic time periods can lead to tumorigenesis. 3. Research into the mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of both the inflammatory response and subsequent tumorigenic response to lung particulate loading is in progress. Impairment of macrophage function and mobility by inert particles constitutes one route by which this can arise, as does toxicity to this cell type by biologically reactive particles. At the molecular level, the role of inflammatory mediators, especially the cytokines, has received much attention. 4. Particulate induced lung tumours are perceived to be a phenomenon specific to the rat and their relevance to man is questionable.

Lysinuric protein intolerance with chronic interstitial lung disease and pulmonary cholesterol granulomas at onset

Hyperammonemia and encephalopathy developed in an 11-year-old girl with chronic interstitial lung disease and cholesterol casts in her lung biopsy specimen. She had decreased plasma levels of ornithine, lysine, and arginine and excessive urinary excretion of lysine and arginine, consistent with the diagnosis of lysinuric protein intolerance. Analysis of plasma and urinary amino acids should be considered in the diagnostic evaluation of patients with interstitial lung disease of uncertain origin.

Translocation of particle-laden alveolar macrophages and intra-alveolar granuloma formation in rats exposed to Ludox colloidal amorphous silica by inhalation

Rats were exposed to Ludox colloidal amorphous silica at concentrations of 0, 10, 50 and 150 mg/m3 for 6 h/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. The rats were killed after 4 weeks exposure and at 10 days or 3 months post-exposure (PE). Dose-related pulmonary lesions were observed at 50 and 150 mg/m3, but not at 10 mg/m3. Inhaled particles were mostly phagocytized by alveolar macrophages (AMs) in the alveolar duct region and a few free particles were found in Type I pneumocytes in the alveoli. Particle-laden AMs directly penetrated into the bronchiolar interstitium from alveoli and accumulated in bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT), peribronchiolar, or perivascular interstitium. The particle-laden AMs in the interstitium further migrated into the peribronchial or perivascular lymphatics and accumulated in the tracheo-bronchial lymph nodes (TBLN). Some particle-laden AMs in the BALT transmigrated directly into bronchial lumen through the epithelium. The transmigrated particle laden-AMs in the TBLN were indistinguishable from those seen in the alveoli. They were characterized by slender cytoplasmic processes, phagosomes, myelin figures (alveolar surfactant), cholesterol clefts and lipid droplets. Many migrated particle-laden AMs were necrotic and released particles in the TBLN. The released particles were phagocytized by histiocytes and formed histiocytic granulomas. Silicotic granulomas were initially formed in alveoli with particle-laden AMs and proliferating epithelioid cells. Subsequently, the granulomas were incorporated into the interstitium. However, perivascular silicotic granulomas were developed with accumulation of transmigrated particle-laden AMs and minimal collagenized fibers at 3 months PE. There was no alveolar lipo-proteinosis as seen in crystalline silica exposure.

The comparison of a fibrogenic and two nonfibrogenic dusts by bronchoalveolar lavage

Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) appears to be a sensitive approach to characterizing an acute inflammatory response within the lung. More work, however, is needed to determine if analyses of BALF endpoints can predict chronic responses (i.e., fibrosis). The objective of the present study was to compare the dose and temporal pulmonary response of a known fibrogenic agent, silica, and two known nonfibrogenic agents, aluminum oxide and titanium dioxide. Animals were instilled with silica (0, 0.2, 1.0, or 5.0 mg/100 g body wt), titanium dioxide (1.0 or 5 mg/100 g body wt), aluminium oxide (1.0 or 5.0 mg/100 g body wt) or saline. Animals (n = 5/group) were terminated 1, 7, 14, 28, and 63 days following instillation, and the BALF was characterized by biochemical and cellular assays. Histopathological changes were determined at 60 days after exposure. The biochemical results demonstrated BALF levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), beta-glucuronidase (BG), N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and total protein (TP) increased in a dose-related fashion at the earlier time points for all test materials, with the magnitude of change being greatest for silica. The temporal response for these parameters was significantly different for the two classes of materials. With time, the response for the fibrogenic dust steadily increased, while the levels for the nonfibrogenic dusts decreased toward normal values during the 2-month study period. Of the cellular changes, total cell numbers, neutrophils, and lymphocyte numbers were the most sensitive markers of the pulmonary response. As shown with the biochemical parameters, the cellular response to silica increased with time while that of the nuisance dusts did not. It was also found that, similar to inhalation studies, high doses of a nuisance dust may result in toxicity/inflammation. This toxicity at high dose levels emphasizes the importance of choosing relevant doses when comparing potentially fibrogenic and nonfibrogenic dusts. In conclusion, the persistent and progressive changes seen in the biochemical (LDH, TP, BG, NAG) and cellular parameters (total cells, neutrophils and lymphocytes) following silica administration correlated with the fibrotic response which occurred after exposure to this material. The less dramatic and transient changes seen with aluminum oxide and titanium dioxide correlated with the inert nature of these nuisance dusts. The results of this study indicate evaluation of BALF may provide a means to predict the chronic pulmonary response to a material.