Abstract

FALCON-RODRIGUEZ, Carlos Ivan; GARCIA-ALONSO, Larisa Idania  and  SEGURA-MEDINA, Patricia. Particulate matter inside of the alveolar macrophage. Acta toxicol. argent. [online]. 2017, vol.25, n.1, pp.23-25. ISSN 1851-3743.

The inhalation of toxic environmental particles is a worldwide public health issue. To avoid the pulmonary damage, the lungs contain the alveolar macrophages, which are the primary defense of the innate immune system, since it engulfs the toxic or allergic particles. Morphologically, particulate matter inside of macrophage is observed as numerous round dark granules of vari­ous size. In guinea pig, the inhalation of fine particles in real time showed single round dark granules inside of the macrophages. After particles exposure, the alveolar macrophage can activate some cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and GM-CSF, which increases the inflammatory response or to activate the Th2 response. The alveolar macrophage interacts with bronchial and bronchiolar epithelium, heart, and blood vessels producing a variety of problems, such as nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, decreased lung function, and increases respiratory symptoms such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing, ag­gravated asthma, and produce premature death in people with heart or lung disease.

Keywords : Bronchoalveolar lavage; Phagocytosis; Particulate matter; Air pollution.