186Re-liposome labeling using 186Re-SNS/S complexes: in vitro stability, imaging, and biodistribution in rats.

UNLABELLED: Liposomes are important carriers for controlling the spatial and temporal distribution of drug molecules or other bioactive molecules. Radiolabeled liposomes have potential applications in diagnostic imaging and radionuclide therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop a practical method for labeling liposomes with therapeutic rhenium radionuclides, using (186)Re as an example. METHODS: An SNS pattern ligand, N,N-bis(2-mercaptoethyl)-N',N'-diethylethylenediamine (BMEDA), and an S pattern ligand, benzene thiol (BT), were used to make 2 kinds of (186)Re-SNS/S complexes, (186)Re-BMEDA and (186)Re-BMEDA + BT. These (186)Re-SNS/S complexes were mixed with neutral liposomes encapsulating cysteine or (NH(4))(2)SO(4) to prepare (186)Re-liposomes. The in vitro labeling stability of (186)Re-liposomes was investigated by incubation in 50% fetal bovine serum/50% phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4, at 37 degrees C. Rat distribution studies of (186)Re-liposomes after intravenous injection were also performed. RESULTS: The labeling efficiencies of (186)Re-liposomes were 52.9%-81.3% depending on the (186)Re-SNS/S complex chosen and whether cysteine- or (NH(4))(2)SO(4)-encapsulated liposomes were used. (186)Re-(NH(4))(2)SO(4) liposomes labeled with (186)Re-BMEDA had the best in vitro labeling stability in serum with 89.8% +/- 3.1% of the radioactivity associated with liposomes at 24 h and 76.2% +/- 5.1% at 96 h. A specific activity of 1.85 GBq (50 mCi) of (186)Re per 50 mg of phospholipid could be achieved with good labeling stability. Biodistributions were followed for 72 h and showed good in vivo stability for (186)Re-liposomes that was characterized by a slow blood clearance and a gradually increasing spleen accumulation. (186)Re-BMEDA alone had fast blood clearance and no accumulation in spleen. CONCLUSION: A practical method for labeling liposomes with (186)Re using (186)Re-SNS/S complexes is described. The labeled (186)Re-liposomes were stable in serum and in vivo and could potentially be useful for radionuclide therapy.

Peroxides and macrophages in the toxicity of fine particulate matter in rats.

Epidemiologists have observed a positive association between human morbidity and mortality and the atmospheric concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM), but the mechanisms underlying the toxic effects of PM have not been elucidated. Various components of ambient PM have been implicated in toxicity (including ultrafine particles, transition metals, organics and oxidants). Our research focused on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). We speculated that fine PM transports H2O2 into the lower lung, leading to tissue injury and to accumulation and activation of macrophages in these regions. The macrophages release cytotoxic mediators and proinflammatory cytokines that contribute to the pathogenesis of tissue injury. To test this hypothesis, we conducted studies to determine (1) whether tissue injury induced by aerosols is mediated by cytotoxic H2O2 carried into the lower lung by fine particles and (2) whether exposure of rats to fine PM leads to accumulation of activated macrophages in the lung. For our studies, systems were designed to generate model atmospheric fine PM and atmospheric peroxides consisting of an ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4] aerosol (mass median diameter, 0.46 +/- 0.14 microm) and H2O2. We also constructed a 6-port nose-only exposure chamber. Female Sprague Dawley rats were exposed for 2 hours to aerosols consisting of (NH4)2SO4 (430 microg/m3), (NH4)2SO4 + 10, 20 or 100 ppb H2O2, vapor-phase H2O2 (10, 20 or 100 ppb), or particle-free air. Studies using oxygen-18 (18O)-labeled H2O2 were conducted to validate the transport of H2O2 into the lower lung with (NH4)2SO4. Rats were killed immediately (0 hours) or 24 hours after exposure. Compared with control animals, inhalation of (NH4)2SO4 and H2O2, alone or in combination, had no major effect on cell number or viability, protein content, or lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid collected either immediately or 24 hours after exposure. However, electron microscopy revealed that a larger number of neutrophils in pulmonary capillaries adhered to the vascular endothelium, especially in lungs of rats exposed to (NH4)2SO4 + H2O2. Inhalation of (NH4)2SO4 + H2O2 was also found to be associated with altered macrophage functional activity. Thus, exposing rats to (NH4)2SO4 + 20 ppb H2O2 or 20 ppb H2O2 alone caused a level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) production by lung macrophages that was higher than in controls. This higher level was observed immediately after exposure and persisted for at least 24 hours. Greater TNF-alpha production was also detected 24 hours after exposure to (NH4)2SO4 + 10 ppb H2O2. Immediately after rats inhaled (NH4)2SO4 + 10 ppb H2O2 or 20 ppb H2O2 alone, we also observed a transiently higher production of superoxide anion (O2-) by alveolar macrophages. Macrophages isolated 24 hours after exposure to 20 ppb H2O2 also produced larger quantities of superoxide anion. In contrast, immediately after exposure, macrophages from rats exposed to (NH4)2SO4 + 10 ppb H2O2 or to 20 ppb H2O2 alone generated less nitric oxide (NO). Reduced nitric oxide production was also observed 24 hours after exposure to (NH4)2SO4 + 10 ppb H2O2 or to 10 or 20 ppb H2O2 alone. Reduced nitric oxide production may have been due to superoxide anion-driven formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO-) anions. In this regard, nitrotyrosine, an in vivo marker of peroxynitrite, was detected in lung tissue immediately after rats were exposed to (NH4)2SO4 + H2O2 or to H2O2 alone (10 or 20 ppb). We also found that alveolar macrophages from rats exposed to (NH4)2SO4 + H2O2 showed a greater expression of the antioxidant enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). Similar results were observed after exposure of rats to an organic peroxide aerosol (cumene hydroperoxide). Taken together, the results of our studies demonstrate that biological effects of inhaled H2O2 are augmented by fine PM. Moreover, tissue injury induced by (NH4)2SO4 + H2O2 may be related to altered production of cytotoxic mediators by alveolar macrophages. Determining the relevance of these toxicologic results to human health will be important in future studies for evaluating the risk of exposure.

Comparative biological potency of acidic sulfate aerosols: implications for the interpretation of laboratory and field studies.

Biological responses to inhaled acid sulfates result from the deposition of hydrogen ion (H+) on airway surfaces. Thus, effects from sulfuric acid and ammonium bisulfate, the two major ambient species, have been assumed to be the same for a given H+ concentration within the exposure atmosphere, assuming similar respiratory tract deposition patterns. However, recent inhalation studies have indicated that sulfuric acid is disproportionately potent compared to ammonium bisulfate when the H+ content of the exposure atmosphere is considered, suggesting that some factors following inhalation affect the amount of H+ contacting airway surfaces. This study assessed a mechanism potentially underlying this phenomenon, namely, the extent of neutralization by respiratory tract ammonia. This was evaluated using a physical model system designed to mimic transit of these aerosols in the upper respiratory tract of the animal model used in this laboratory, the rabbit. The results suggest that for equal exposure quantities of H+, more acid would be deposited when sulfuric acid is inhaled than when ammonium bisulfate is inhaled. Furthermore, results from a series of in vitro exposures of tracheal epithelial cells to sulfuric acid and ammonium bisulfate aerosols indicated that the biological response is a function of the total mass (ionic) concentration of H+ deliverable to the cells or the total extractable H+ per particle. The results of this study have possible implications for ambient monitoring of particulate-associated strong acidity, suggesting that it may be necessary to specilate such measures into the relative amounts of H+ as sulfuric acid or ammonium bisulfate in order to most accurately relate atmospheric acid levels to observed health effects. In addition, since much of the ambient particulate-associated H+ exists as sulfuric acid/ammonium bisulfate mixtures rather than pure compounds, H(+)-associated health effects from controlled exposure studies of sulfuric acid may not be transferable to ambient population situations on a 1:1 basis. Since any such errors in exposure assessment will necessarily bias downward the strength of H(+)-related health effects associations found via epidemiological studies, failure to address the specification of H+ may cause such studies to underestimate the human health effects of strong acids.

Effect of ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride and root-zone acidity on inorganic ion content of tobacco.

Tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv NC82) were supplied with (NH4)2SO4 or NH4Cl at root-zone pH of 6.0 and 4.5 in hydroponic culture for 28 days. Dry matter accumulation, total N and C content, and leaf area and number were not affected by the NH4+ source or root-zone pH. Plants supplied with NH4Cl accumulated up to 1.2 mM Cl g DW-1, but accumulated 37% less inorganic H2PO4- and 47% less SO4(2-) than plants supplied with (NH4)2SO4. The large Cl- accumulation resulted in NH4Cl- supplied plants having a 31% higher inorganic anion (NO3-, H2, PO4-, SO4(2-), and Cl-) charge. This higher inorganic anion charge in the NH4Cl-supplied plants was balanced by a similar increase in K+ charge. Plants supplied with NH4Cl accumulated greater concentrations of Cl- in leaves (up to 5.1% of DW) than plants supplied with (NH4)2SO4 (less than -% DW). Despite the high Cl- concentration of leaves in NH4Cl supplied plants, these plants showed no symptoms of Cl- toxicity. This demonstrates that toxicity symptoms are not due solely to an interaction between high Cl- concentration in tissue and NH4+ nutrition. The increase in root-zone acidity to pH 4.5 from 6.0 did not induce toxicity symptoms.