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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Measuring Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages Exposed to Carbon-Containing Particulate Matters
Published on: July 12, 2024
[Acute effects of environmental pollution on the urban vigilants airways]
G Guarnieri1, V Lodde, S Ferrazzoni
1Dipartimento di Medicina Ambientale e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Giustiniani, 2, 35128 Padova. gabriella.guarnieri@unipd.it
Aim Of The Study:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the acute exposure to air pollution, in a group of policemen of Padua, is correlated with increased inflammatory biomarkers (exhaled nitric oxide, feNO) and alterations of bronchiolar cells (assessed by CC16 Clara cell-specific protein).
Methods:
We studied 44 healthy, non-smokers divided in exposed to traffic and controls (office workers). Before and after the Monday shift serum and urinary concentration of CC16, feNo and spirometry were measured in each subject. Data on air pollutants, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, O3 were collected from official bulletin online (ARPAV).
Results:
In exposed policemen serum CC16 decreased after shift (before 4.6 +/- 0.2 vs after 6.4 +/- 0.8 ng/ml, = 0.02), while feNO increased significantly (33.2 +/- 4.4 vs 29.7 +/- 3.9 ppb, p = 0.02). feNO cross-shift changes were positively correlated with environmental SO2 levels (rho = 0.48; p = 0.01).
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that in healthy and nonsmokers subjects the exposure to air pollution is associated with subclinical airway inflammation and decrease of bronchiolar epithelium function.
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