Asbestos inhalation induces reactive nitrogen species and nitrotyrosine formation in the lungs and pleura of the rat.
To determine whether asbestos inhalation induces the formation of reactive nitrogen species, three groups of rats were exposed intermittently over 2 wk to either filtered room air (sham-exposed) or to chrysotile or crocidolite asbestos fibers. The rats were killed at 1 or 6 wk after exposure. At 1 wk, significantly greater numbers of alveolar and pleural macrophages from asbestos-exposed rats than from sham-exposed rats demonstrated inducible nitric oxide synthase protein immunoreactivity. Alveolar macrophages from asbestos-exposed rats also generated significantly greater nitrite formation than did macrophages from sham-exposed rats. Strong immunoreactivity for nitrotyrosine, a marker of peroxynitrite formation, was evident in lungs from chrysotile- and crocidolite-exposed rats at 1 and 6 wk. Staining was most evident at alveolar duct bifurcations and within bronchiolar epithelium, alveolar macrophages, and the visceral and parietal pleural mesothelium. Lungs from sham-exposed rats demonstrated minimal immunoreactivity for nitrotyrosine. Significantly greater quantities of nitrotyrosine were detected by ELISA in lung extracts from asbestos-exposed rats than from sham-exposed rats. These findings suggest that asbestos inhalation can induce inducible nitric oxide synthase activation and peroxynitrite formation in vivo, and provide evidence of a possible alternative mechanism of asbestos-induced injury to that thought to be induced by Fenton reactions.
Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799, USA.
S
S
Tanaka
N
N
Choe
D R
DR
Hemenway
S
S
Zhu
S
S
Matalon
E
E
Kagan
D000818:Animals; D017638:Asbestos, Crocidolite / Q000633:toxicity*; D017632:Asbestos, Serpentine / Q000633:toxicity*; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000096:biosynthesis; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D010994:Pleura; D010996:Pleural Effusion; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism*
D017632:Asbestos, Serpentine; D009566:Nitrates; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D017638:Asbestos, Crocidolite; C039642:peroxynitric acid; D014443:Tyrosine; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; C496318:Nos2 protein, rat; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide