Interactive effects of O3, cytochalasin D, and vinblastine on transepithelial transport and cytoskeleton in rat airways

Alteration of alveolar macrophage chemotaxis, cell adhesion, and cell adhesion molecules following ozone exposure of rats

Ozone (O3) exposure of humans and animals induces an inflammatory response in the lung, which is associated with macrophage stimulation, release of chemotactic agents, and recruitment of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). This study was designed to investigate the functional aspects of the macrophages that impact inflammatory processes in the lung. Macrophages recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from rats exposed to purified air or 0.8 ppm O3 were studied for their chemotactic activity, adhesive interactions with alveolar epithelial cells in culture, surface morphology, and surface expression of cell adhesion molecules. The macrophages isolated from O3-exposed rats exhibited a greater motility in response to a chemotactic stimulus than the macrophages isolated from rats exposed to purified air. The macrophages from O3-exposed animals also displayed greater adhesion when placed in culture with epithelial cells isolated from adult rat lung (ARL-14) than the macrophages from control rats. Both chemotactic motility and cell adhesion stimulated by O3 exposure were attenuated when the macrophages were incubated in the presence of monoclonal antibodies to leukocyte adhesion molecules, CD11b, or epithelial cell adhesion molecules, ICAM-1. Flow cytometry revealed a modest increase in the surface expression of CD11b but no change in ICAM-1 expression in macrophages from O3-exposed rats when compared to those from the air-exposed controls. The results demonstrate an alteration of macrophage functions following O3 exposure and suggest the dependence of these functions on the biologic characteristics, rather than the absolute expression, of the cell adhesion molecules.

Modification of macrophage adhesion by ozone: role of cytokines and cell adhesion molecules

The inflammatory response in the lungs following an inhalation exposure of animals and humans to ozone (O3) is associated with macrophage stimulation, release of chemotactic agents, and neutrophilia. This study investigated the adhesive behavior of the alveolar macrophages and its relevance to the inflammatory processes in the lung. Macrophages recovered by BAL from rats exposed to purified air or 0.8 ppm O3 were studied in vitro for their adhesion to epithelial cells derived from ARL-14. The macrophages from O3-exposed animals displayed greater adhesion to the epithelial cells than the macrophages from control rats exposed to purified air. The O3-induced adhesion was attenuated in the macrophages treated with a combination of interleukin-1 alpha and tumor necrosis factor-alpha antibodies (anti-IL-1+anti-TNF). The cell adhesion stimulated by O3 exposure was also attenuated when the macrophages were incubated in the presence of antibodies to leukocyte adhesion molecules, CD11b, or epithelial cell adhesion molecules, ICAM-1. A marginal increase in the surface expression of CD11b was noticed in macrophages from the rats exposed to O3. A similar change in the ICAM-1 expression was, however, not observed. The results suggest that the O3-induced modifications of macrophages are mediated by IL-1 and TNF, and that these modifications are accompanied by a minimal change in the expression of the cell-adhesion molecules.

Differential effects of ozone on lung epithelial lining fluid volume and protein content

Urea dilution has been used to estimate the volume of epithelial lining fluid (ELF) in the respiratory tract. However, ELF volume may be overestimated as the result of rapid net diffusion of urea from tissues into the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. This study established a protocol for rat BAL in a manner that minimizes this problem and then used this procedure to examine the edemagenic effects of ozone (O3) exposure on ELF volume and the concentrations of ELF protein and albumin. One passage lavage with variable dwell times up to 30 s showed no difference in recovered urea, protein, and albumin and ELF volume between 0 and 4 s, but a progressive increase of each thereafter. The calculated concentrations of protein and albumin in ELF did not vary significantly with dwell time. By increasing the number of lavage passages from one to three, the amounts of recovered urea, protein, and albumin and estimated ELF volume were increased with each passage. Again, the calculated concentrations of protein and albumin in ELF did not vary appreciably. When a single lavage passage and no added dwell time were used, it was observed that exposure of rats to 2 but not 0.5 and 1 ppm O3 increased urea, protein, and albumin in the BAL immediately after 6 h exposure. In addition, at 18 h postexposure to 1 ppm O3, ELF volume increased only 21%, but protein and albumin concentrations in ELF were 2.3- and 4.5-fold of control values, respectively. A higher O3 concentration (2 ppm) moderately increased ELF volume (+83%) and exerted even greater effects on concentrations of ELF protein (7.8-fold) and albumin (19-fold) while lower O3 dosage (0.5 ppm) had no significant effect. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that small serum proteins including albumin were greatly enriched in lung BAL fluid of 1 ppm O3-exposed rats. These results demonstrate that movement of water and protein into the airspaces after O3 exposure is not strictly coupled, and that protein recovery by BAL should cautiously be used to indicate airspace edema as a result of O3 injury.

Antioxidant vitamins and prevention of lung disease

Although the evidence for oxidative stress for air pollution in the human lung is fragmentary, the hypothesis that oxidative stress is an important, if not the sole, mechanism of toxicity of oxidizing air pollutants and tobacco smoke is compelling and growing. First, biochemical mechanisms have been worked out for oxidation of lung lipids by the gas phase of cigarette smoke, NO2 and O3. The oxidation of lung lipids can be prevented by both vitamins C and E. Vitamin C is more effective in preventing oxidation by NO2, and vitamin E is more effective against O3. Second, multiple species of experimental animals develop lung disease similar to human bronchitis and emphysema from exposure to NO2 and O3, respectively. The development of these diseases occurs over a near lifetime exposure when the levels of NO2 or O3 are at near ambient air pollution values. Third, isolated human cells are protected against oxidative damage from NO2 and O3 by both vitamins C and E. Fourth, the vitamin C level in the lung either declines on exposure to NO2 for short-term exposures or increases on chronic cigarette smoke exposure. The effects of cigarette smoking on serum vitamin C is apparently complex and may be related to the daily intake of vitamin C as well as smoking. Serum vitamin C levels may be poor indicators of lung demands when daily vitamin C intakes are above 100 mg/day. Fifth, vitamin C supplementation protects against the effects of ambient levels of air pollution in adults as measured by histamine challenge. An augmented response to histamine challenge may represent increased lung permeability brought about by air pollution. In experimental animal and human experiments, the amount of vitamin C or E that afforded protection was in excess of the current recommended dietary allowance. Although animal studies do not provide evidence for complete protection against NO2 or O3, they do illustrate that current recommended daily allowances are inadequate for maximum protection against air pollution levels to which over 100 million Americans are exposed. The problem of air pollution and its effects on humans is truly of global concern. Air pollution is not restricted to North America or Japan where it was first recognized, but is a major public health problem in Europe as well. When data are available, air pollution probably will be shown to be a major public health problem in all urban areas of the world.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Acute ozone-induced lung injury in neutrophil-depleted rats

To test the hypothesis that neutrophils contribute to acute, ozone-induced epithelial damage in the lung, rats were depleted of their circulating neutrophils by intraperitoneal injection of a rabbit anti-rat neutrophil serum (ANS) 12 hr prior to an 8-hr exposure to 1.0 ppm ozone. Additional rats were given an injection of normal rabbit serum (NRS) prior to ozone exposure. Exposures were followed by postexposure periods in filtered air for 0, 4, or 16 hr. Control rats were given either ANS or NRS and then exposed only to filtered air. Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from NRS-treated rats revealed a significant increase in total neutrophils above that of controls at the 4- and 16-hr postexposure times, with a peak increase at 4 hr postexposure. In contrast, there was almost total ablation of the BALF neutrophil response in the ANS-treated rats at all times. Ozone caused an increase in BALF protein, fibronectin, and interleukin-6 above those in controls in both the NRS- and ANS-treated rats, but the only significant difference between the two groups was a level of fibronectin in the neutrophil-depleted animals higher than that in the neutrophil-sufficient animals at the 0-hr postexposure time. Electron microscopic morphometry on lungs fixed by intravascular perfusion demonstrated no significant differences in the volume per surface area epithelial basal lamina (Vs) of necrotic and degenerating epithelial cells in central acini between the neutrophil-depleted and neutrophil-sufficient animals. From these results, we concluded that neutrophils do not play a detectable role in contributing to the early epithelial damage in the lung caused by an acute exposure to ozone.