Project: Incidence of environmental pollution in the exacerbation of asthmatic patients. Environmental epidemiology studies and in vitro models using macrophages exposed to particulate matter.
Introduction:
During the winter of 2020, the burning of grasslands on the islands of the Paraná Delta flooded the Rosario metropolitan area with smoke, realizing the magnitude that these events can reach and the consequent public commotion they cause. In this regard, it was possible to record that as the fires continued, medical consultations for respiratory conditions multiplied. However, in our city there are no environmental epidemiology studies that provide scientific rigor to this sum of individual observations. This project proposes an interdisciplinary approach to this problem through the development of a platform that allows collecting data on environmental and health variables. Its systematization and analysis will make it possible to accurately assess the role of air pollution in the development of pathology, in this first stage analyzing the exacerbation rate of asthmatic patients.
Furthermore, although the adverse health effects of particulate matter (PM) have been known for many years, the mechanisms underlying the process have not been fully identified. Since the alveolar macrophage is a key gear in lung defense mechanisms, this project also proposes to study its effects in in vitro models. To this end, we will evaluate whether the presence of PM exacerbates the phenotype of macrophages exposed to common allergens, such as dust mites, and whether these alterations are associated with the development of resistance to corticosteroids. Bearing in mind that glucocorticoids are the most powerful anti-inflammatories currently known and that resistance to corticosteroids in patients with severe asthma is a serious health problem, we consider it highly relevant to study the potential role of PM in this process.
In short, this project provides a transversal approach to characterize the effect of air pollution on asthma exacerbation, in order to evaluate its different aspects and provide fundamental scientific information for governmental decision-making.
Objectives:
This project aims to integrate environmental monitoring data with health variables to assess the incidence of air pollution in the etiology and progression of asthma. To this end, it is specifically proposed:
1. Carry out clinical research studies in health centers and on-call services to assess a possible association between levels of environmental contamination and exacerbation rates in asthmatic patients.
2. Physicochemically characterize the PM produced in the region at different times of the year and evaluate its immunotoxic potential to exacerbate an allergic response through in vitro perturbation assays in human macrophage cell cultures.
3. Correlate the sanitary variables analyzed with meteorological data in the city of Rosario
Very abbreviated methodology and/or what it consists of
Clinical study: To assess the potential effects of pollution in asthmatic patients, longitudinal studies will be carried out in asthmatic patients using standardized questionnaires; and cross-sectional, through a periodic record of the number of patients who require attention in the Emergency Service due to asthmatic exacerbation.
Physicochemical analysis of PM : Its mutagenic potential will be evaluated using the Ames test and its immunotoxicity through in vitro studies using the THP-1 human monocytic cell line as a model. These cells will be exposed to different concentrations of HDM (D. pteronyssinus extracts) and PM collected at different periods in the city of Rosario, and the cytokine production profile will be characterized to determine the type of activation developed by said macrophages.
Correlation studies: The meteorological data and the PM will be collected systematically by the Laboratory of Physics of the Atmosphere, Solar Radiation and Astroparticles of the IFIR CONICET-UNR. Then, the variables will be analyzed through the use of statistical packages.
Expected results, conclusions or purpose
Being Rosario the third largest urban center in the country, we understand that carrying out environmental epidemiology studies is crucial to provide information and generate tools that states and non-governmental organizations can use to promote public policies aimed at preserving the environment. atmosphere.
On the other hand, the project also proposes to advance in the identification of new molecular circuits associated with this process, which would provide valuable information for the design of new diagnostic and treatment tools.
Related
Directors: Silvana Spinelli and Ledit Ardusso.
Members: Julieta Grosso, Matías Ardusso, Hugo Neffen and Clara Claus.
Contributor: Adriana Ipina
Spaces / Institutions / Academic Units: Faculty of Medical Sciences (UNR), Provincial Hospital of the Centennial and Institute of Physics Rosario (CONICET-UNR).
Contact
spinelli@idicer-conicet.gob.ar
ardusol2829@gmail.com