[Acute effects of environmental pollution on the urban vigilants airways]. / Effetto acuto dell'inquinamento ambientale sulle vie aeree in vigili urbani.

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.

Mammaglobin is found in breast tissue as a complex with BU101.

The mammaglobin gene has been shown to be preferentially expressed in breast tissue. Few genes match its specificity. Mammaglobin has generated much interest, and studies are ongoing to develop diagnostic tests for breast cancer based on the detection of mammaglobin. While searching the Incyte Genomics Lifeseq database for tissue-specific markers, we observed a second secretoglobin, BU101, also known as lipophilin B. We report here that mammaglobin, in breast tissue, is found as a complex with BU101. The complex was isolated from breast cancer tissue and was characterized as the biologically relevant form of mammaglobin.