Dose and Time Dependency of Inflammatory Responses in the Mouse Lung to Urban Air Coarse, Fine, and Ultrafine Particles from Six European Cities

We investigated the dose and time dependency of inflammatory and cytotoxic responses to size-segregated urban air particulate samples in the mouse lung. Coarse (PM10-2.5), fine (PM2.5-0.2), and ultrafine (PM0.2) particles were collected in six European cities (Duisburg, Prague, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Barcelona, Athens) in selected seasons using a modified Harvard high-volume cascade impactor. Healthy C57Bl/6J mice were intratracheally exposed to the particulate samples in a 24-h dose-response study (1, 3, and 10 mg/kg) and in 4-, 12-, and 24-h time course studies (10 mg/kg). After the exposures, the lungs were lavaged and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was assayed for indicators of inflammation and tissue damage: total cell number, cell differential, total protein, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and cytokine (tumor necrosis alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and keratinocyte-derived chemokine [KC]) concentrations. In general, PM10-2.5 samples had higher inflammatory activity than PM2.5-0.2 samples. PM0.2 samples showed negligible inflammatory activity. PM10-2.5 and PM2.5-0.2 samples caused large increases in BALF cytokine concentrations at 4 h, but not at 12 or 24 h, after exposure. The BALF total cell number and total protein concentrations increased significantly at 12 h for both the PM10-2.5 and PM2.5-0.2 samples, but only PM10-2.5 samples produced consistent, significant increases at 24 h after exposure. There was more heterogeneity in BALF cytokine and neutrophil cell number responses to PM2.5-0.2 samples than to PM10-2.5 samples between the sampling campaigns. Thus, particle size, sources, and atmospheric transformation processes affect the inflammatory activity and response duration of urban air particulate matter in the mouse lung.