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Updated: Feb 25, 2026
Measuring Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages Exposed to Carbon-Containing Particulate Matters
Published on: July 12, 2024
Exposure to ambient particulate matter alters the microbial composition and induces immune changes in rat lung
Naijian Li1, Fang He2, Baoling Liao1
1State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, 151 Yanjiang Road, Guangzhou, 510120, China.
Background:
Ambient particulate matter exposure has been shown to increase the risks of respiratory diseases. However, the role of the lung microbiome and the immune response to inhaled particulate matter are largely unexplored. We studied the influence of biomass fuel and motor vehicle exhaust particles on the lung microbiome and pulmonary immunologic homeostasis in rats.
Methods:
Fifty-seven Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into clean air (CON), biomass fuel (BMF), and motor vehicle exhaust (MVE) groups. After a 4-week exposure, the microbial composition of the lung was assessed by 16S rRNA pyrosequencing, the structure of the lung tissue was assessed with histological analysis, the phagocytic response of alveolar macrophages to bacteria was determined by flow cytometry, and immunoglobulin concentrations were measured with commercial ELISA kits.
Results:
There was no significant difference in lung morphology between the groups. However, the BMF and MVE groups displayed greater bacterial abundance and diversity. Proteobacteria were present in higher proportions in the MVE group, and 12 bacterial families differed in their relative abundances between the three groups. In addition, particulate matter exposure significantly increased the capacity of alveolar macrophages to phagocytose bacteria and induced changes in immunoglobulin levels.
Conclusion:
We demonstrated that particulate matter exposure can alter the microbial composition and change the pulmonary immunologic homeostasis in the rat lung.
