ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Asthma is a complex pulmonary inflammatory disease characterized by the hyper-responsiveness, remodeling and inflammation of airways. Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant that can cause asthma in people experiencing long-term exposure. The irritant effect and adjuvant effect are the two possible pathways of formaldehyde promoted asthma. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To explore the neural mechanisms and adjuvant effect of formaldehyde, 48 Balb/c mice in six experimental groups were exposed to (a) vehicle control; (b) ovalbumin; (c) formaldehyde (3.0 mg/m(3)); (d) ovalbumin+formaldehyde (3.0 mg/m(3)); (e) ovalbumin+formaldehyde (3.0 mg/m(3))+HC-030031 (transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 antagonist); (f) ovalbumin+formaldehyde (3.0 mg/m(3))+ capsazepine (transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 antagonist). Experiments were conducted after 4 weeks of combined exposure and 1-week challenge with aerosolized ovalbumin. Airway hyper-responsiveness, pulmonary tissue damage, eosinophil infiltration, and increased levels of interleukin-4, interleukin-6, interleukin-1ß, immunoglobulin E, substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide in lung tissues were found in the ovalbumin+formaldehyde (3.0 mg/m(3)) group compared with the values seen in ovalbumin -only immunized mice. Except for interleukin-1ß levels, other changes in the levels of biomarker could be inhibited by HC-030031 and capsazepine. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Formaldehyde might be a key risk factor for the rise in asthma cases. Transient receptor potential ion channels and neuropeptides have important roles in formaldehyde promoted-asthma.
Subject(s)
Asthma/immunology , Disease Models, Animal , Neuropeptides/immunology , Transient Receptor Potential Channels/immunology , Acetanilides/immunology , Acetanilides/pharmacology , Animals , Asthma/chemically induced , Asthma/metabolism , Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide/immunology , Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide/metabolism , Capsaicin/analogs & derivatives , Capsaicin/immunology , Capsaicin/pharmacology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Formaldehyde/immunology , Formaldehyde/pharmacology , Immunoglobulin E/blood , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Immunoglobulin E/metabolism , Immunohistochemistry , Interleukin-1beta/immunology , Interleukin-1beta/metabolism , Interleukin-4/immunology , Interleukin-4/metabolism , Interleukin-6/immunology , Interleukin-6/metabolism , Lung/drug effects , Lung/immunology , Lung/metabolism , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Neuropeptides/metabolism , Ovalbumin/immunology , Ovalbumin/pharmacology , Purines/immunology , Purines/pharmacology , Substance P/immunology , Substance P/metabolism , Transient Receptor Potential Channels/antagonists & inhibitors , Transient Receptor Potential Channels/metabolismABSTRACT
Oppositely charged water-soluble polyelectrolytes were used in the developed membrane immunoenzyme assay for the herbicide butachlor. High-affinity and rapid binding between polyanion polymethacrylate and polycation poly(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium) was applied to separate reacted and free immunoreactants. Competitive immunoassay format with peroxidase-labeled antigen was realized. The insoluble colored product of the peroxidase reaction was formed by bound labeled immune complexes and was reflectometrically detected. The assay combines short duration (15 min), high sensitivity (0.03 g/mL) and availability for out-of-laboratory testing. Different image processing algorithms were used to determine the herbicide content. Low variation coefficients of the measurements in the proposed quantitative assay, namely 4.8-9.0% for the range of antigen concentrations from 0.1 to 3.0 ng/mL, are evidence of the assay effectiveness. Possibility to control the butachlor content in mineral, artesian, and drinking water was demonstrated.
