Induction of apoptosis and absence of inflammation in rat lung after intratracheal instillation of multiwalled carbon nanotubes.
Several studies performed by intratracheal instillation showed that carbon nanotubes (CNT) induced pulmonary fibrosis, granulomas or inflammation. But, recently, two inhalation studies did not observed such pathological phenomena and suggest that granulomas could be due to the instillation of unbreathable agglomerates. In a previous study, we have described a simple method (using albumin as dispersing agent) which produced solutions containing more than 80% of agglomerate of breathable size. We report here results from intratracheal instillation of rats by 0, 1, 10 or 100 microg of MWCNT dispersed with albumin. After 1, 7, 30, 90, and 180 days, inflammation, apoptosis, fibrosis, respiratory parameters and granuloma formation were assessed. Results obtained by plethysmography, soluble collagen quantification, qRT-PCR and luminex measurement of cytokines expression and histopathological observation showed only evidence of apoptosis of alveolar macrophages. These result underline the importance of controlling MWCNT agglomerate size when exposing animals, through appropriate dispersion methods.
Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS), Verneuil en Halatte, France. dan.elgrabli@ineris.fr
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D
Elgrabli
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S
Abella-Gallart
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Robidel
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F
Rogerieux
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J
Boczkowski
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Lacroix
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis; D015769:Granuloma, Respiratory Tract / Q000139:chemically induced; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced*; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010587:Phagocytosis; D010993:Plethysmography, Whole Body; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014132:Trachea
D007378:Interleukins; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D003094:Collagen; D053148:Caspase 3