Research

Airborne particulate matter PM_2.5 from Mexico City affects the generation of reactive oxygen species by blood neutrophils from asthmatics: an in vitro approach

Martha Patricia Sierra-Vargas^1* , Alberto Martin Guzman-Grenfell^1* , Salvador Blanco-Jimenez^2* , Jose David Sepulveda-Sanchez^3* , Rosa Maria Bernabe-Cabanillas^2* , Beatriz Cardenas-Gonzalez^2* , Guillermo Ceballos^4* and Juan Jose Hicks¹

¹  Departamento de Investigacion en Bioquimica y Medicina Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Ismael Cosio Villegas, Secretaria de Salud, Mexico

²  Direccion de Investigacion Experimental en Contaminacion Atmosferica, Centro Nacional de Investigacion y Capacitacion Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Ecologia, Mexico

³  Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, 09340, Mexico

⁴  Laboratorio Interdisciplinario Seccion de Postgrado e Investigacion, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, DF, Mexico

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology 2009, 4:17doi:10.1186/1745-6673-4-17

Published:	29 June 2009

Abstract

Background

The Mexico City Metropolitan Area is densely populated, and toxic air pollutants are generated and concentrated at a higher rate because of its geographic characteristics. It is well known that exposure to particulate matter, especially to fine and ultra-fine particles, enhances the risk of cardio-respiratory diseases, especially in populations susceptible to oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of fine particles on the respiratory burst of circulating neutrophils from asthmatic patients living in Mexico City.

Methods

In total, 6 subjects diagnosed with mild asthma and 11 healthy volunteers were asked to participate. Neutrophils were isolated from peripheral venous blood and incubated with fine particles, and the generation of reactive oxygen species was recorded by chemiluminescence. We also measured plasma lipoperoxidation susceptibility and plasma myeloperoxidase and paraoxonase activities by spectrophotometry.

Results

Asthmatic patients showed significantly lower plasma paraoxonase activity, higher susceptibility to plasma lipoperoxidation and an increase in myeloperoxidase activity that differed significantly from the control group. In the presence of fine particles, neutrophils from asthmatic patients showed an increased tendency to generate reactive oxygen species after stimulation with fine particles (PM_2.5).

Conclusion

These findings suggest that asthmatic patients have higher oxidation of plasmatic lipids due to reduced antioxidant defense. Furthermore, fine particles tended to increase the respiratory burst of blood human neutrophils from the asthmatic group.

On the whole, increased myeloperoxidase activity and susceptibility to lipoperoxidation with a concomitant decrease in paraoxonase activity in asthmatic patients could favor lung infection and hence disrupt the control of asthmatic crises.