nitrogen-dioxide and Cytomegalovirus-Infections

Adverse pregnancy outcomes are associated with a poor ambient atmospheric environment. Infections by teratogenic pathogens such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) are the main cause of the worse pregnant outcomes. However, environmental factors governing these infections are uncertain and epidemiological studies are limited. An epidemiological study on relationships between air pollutants and antibodies against teratogenic pathogens will be explored. In total, 5475 women of childbearing age were enrolled in the study between January 2018 and December 2019 in a hospital in Shantou, China. Antibodies against pathogens were measured by electrochemical luminescence. Everyday air quality data, concerning particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO

Topics: Air Pollutants; Air Pollution; China; Cytomegalovirus Infections; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Nitrogen Dioxide; Particulate Matter; Pregnancy; Retrospective Studies; Teratogenesis; Teratogens

The studies reported here focus on the relation of nitrogen dioxide exposure to susceptibility to viral respiratory infection in a murine model of pneumonia, created by intratracheal inoculation of an endogenous murine pathogen, mouse cytomegalovirus. The purpose of this work is to clarify the potential role of nitrogen dioxide exposure in the pathogenesis of viral infection of the lower respiratory tract. Previous human epidemiologic studies have presented conflicting information about the relationship of nitrogen dioxide to acute, self-limited episodes of respiratory illness, which are characteristic of viral respiratory infection. Some studies have found an association between exposure to elevated ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide and increased occurrence of acute respiratory illness. In one study this association was found to be strongest in children in the first two years of life. However, other epidemiologic studies have failed to observe this relation. To determine if there is scientific evidence for the possible relation of nitrogen dioxide exposure to human respiratory infection, our studies were performed to assess the impact of nitrogen dioxide on respiratory tract susceptibility to initial, or primary, infection, as well as to recurrent infection, or reinfection, with the identical virus. The latter mechanism of viral respiratory infection is of particular interest, since reinfection is a common method for the development of infection of the lower respiratory tract during early childhood. Outbred CD-1 mice were exposed to either air or nitrogen dioxide for six hours a day on two consecutive days prior to inoculation with murine cytomegalovirus, and then were reexposed to the same level of nitrogen dioxide for six hours a day on four consecutive days, beginning the day after viral inoculation. Susceptibility to primary infection was determined by inoculating animals with an amount of virus (10(2) plaque-forming units) that is too small to produce viral infection in the lungs of normal animals. Mice exposed to 5 parts per million (ppm) nitrogen dioxide routinely developed viral replication in the lung and histologic evidence of pneumonitis after inoculation with this amount of virus, whereas air-exposed animals did not. Most importantly, animals exposed to 5 ppm nitrogen dioxide could be infected with a viral inoculum that was 100-fold smaller than that required to consistently produce viral infection in air-exposed mice. Enhanced susceptibilit

Topics: Animals; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Cytomegalovirus Infections; Disease Susceptibility; Mice; Nitrogen Dioxide; Pneumonia, Viral; Recurrence

To determine whether exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) affects respiratory tract susceptibility to viral infection, CD-1 mice were inoculated intratracheally with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) during exposure to varying concentrations of NO2. Exposure lasted for 6 h per day; it began 2 consecutive days prior to instillation of MCMV and continued for 4 days after virus inoculation. Exposure to 5 ppm NO2 resulted in MCMV proliferation and a mild bronchopneumonia in some animals inoculated with 10(2) plaque-forming units of virus. Importantly, this inoculum was too low to produce either viral replication or histologic abnormalities in the lungs of air-exposed animals. We also found that the amount of virus required to infect animals exposed to 5 ppm of NO2 was 100-fold lower than that needed to consistently produce infection in air-exposed animals. Animals exposed to 5 ppm NO2 also exhibited depressed phagocytosis of colloidal Au198 in vivo as well as diminished macrophage destruction of instilled MCMV compared to air-exposed animals. These results demonstrate that exposure to 5 ppm NO2, although not associated with evidence of overt lung injury per se, is nevertheless capable of predisposing the lower respiratory tract to viral infection.

Topics: Animals; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Cytomegalovirus Infections; Disease Susceptibility; Macrophages; Mice; Nitrogen Dioxide; Phagocytosis; Pulmonary Alveoli; Respiratory Tract Infections