Abstract
The use of nanoparticles (NPs) has increased in the past few years in various fields, including defence, aerospace, electronics, biology, medicine, and so forth. and in applications such as diagnostic technology, bioimaging, and drug/gene delivery. Thus, human exposure to NPs and nanomaterials is unavoidable and will certainly expand in the future resulting in a growing interest in nanotoxicology, the study of toxicity of nanomaterials. A number of studies have reported the effects of NPs in respect to pulmonary inflammation by investigating in vitro activation of pulmonary cells with NPs and in vivo in a variety of models in which neutrophils appear to be the predominant leukocyte cell type in lungs and in bronchoalveolar lavages following inhalation or intratracheal instillation of NPs. Despite the fact that several studies have reported an increased number of neutrophils, the literature dealing with the direct activation of neutrophils by a given NP is poorly documented. This paper will summarize the current literature in this latter area of research and will end with a perspective view in which our laboratory will be involved in the following years.
Highlights
The use of nanoparticles (NPs) has increased in the past few years in various fields, including defence, aerospace, electronics, biology, medicine, and so forth. and in applications such as diagnostic technology, bioimaging, and drug/gene delivery
Polymorphonuclear neutrophil cells (PMNs) are the first type of leukocytes to migrate to an inflammatory site, where they will produce several proinflammatory mediators including chemokines that first attract other polymorphonuclear neutrophil cells (PMNs) and other cell types like monocytes-macrophages and lymphocytes, corresponding to chronic inflammation
These cells eliminate invading pathogens via two important mechanisms: (i) the respiratory burst, which is an oxygendependent process leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and (ii) degranulation, an oxygen-independent mechanism by which PMNs release potent toxic degradative products stored in granules
Summary
The prefix “nano” is derived from the Greek “nanos” means “dwarf” and is becoming increasingly prevalent in scientific literature. A new branch of toxicology, nanotoxicology, has recently emerged. This field, which can be defined as the evaluation of safety of engineered nanostructures and nanodevices, is growing rapidly, since information about safety and potential hazards is urgently needed. Exposure to NPs has increased dramatically in the past few years due to anthropogenic sources given that NPs can be formed via a wide variety of processes/methods. These sources are numerous and include internal combustion engines, power plants, and many other sources of thermodegradation [7]. Nanotoxicology is, a very complex discipline, and the diversity and complexity of NPs makes chemical characterization more important and more difficult [8]
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