Identification of systemic markers from a pulmonary carbon nanotube exposure.

Abstract

Interest exists for early monitoring of worker exposure to engineered nanomaterials. Here, we highlight quantitative systemic markers of early effects after carbon nanotube (CNT) exposure. Mice were exposed by pharyngeal aspiration to 40-μg CNT and harvested 24 hours, 7 days, and 28 days postexposure for measurements of whole blood, lung and extrapulmonary tissue gene expression, blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) differentials, and serum protein profiling. Early effects included increased inflammatory blood gene expression and serum cytokines followed by an acute phase response (eg, CRP, SAA-1, SAP). Beyond 24 hours, there was a consistent increase in blood and BAL eosinophils. At 28 day, serum acute phase proteins with immune function including complement C3, apolipoproteins A-I and A-II, and α₂-macroglobulin were increased. Carbon nanotube exposure resulted in measurable systemic markers but lacked specificity to distinguish from other pulmonary exposures.