Abstract
Rationale Environmental pollutants are known to exacerbate asthma and allergic rhinitis, however the mechanism of this induction is not clearly understood. We examined the effect of environmental pollutants on mast cell/basophil degranulation. Methods A rat basophil leukemia cell line (RBL-2H3) was exposed to aldehyde pollutants (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein) found in high concentrations in large cities and industrial areas, to asses the acute effect of the pollutants on basophil degranulation. Granule release was assessed using either the β-Hexosaminidase assay or serotonin release assay. The effect of the pollutants on IgE crosslinking mediated degranulation was also assessed. Exposures were carried out for 30 minutes. Dependence of the degranulation process on cellular calcium was also assessed. Results Direct exposure of RBL-2H3 to aldehydes induced degranulation at concentrations ranging from 4 to 7.8 ppm. No enhancement of the IgE mediated degranulation was observed when the chemical was incubated prior to IgE crosslinking. Further, the process appears to be extracellular calcium independent. Conclusions Formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein, are capable of directly inducing degranulation of basophils. Given the important role of mast cells and basophils in asthma and allergic rhinitis, direct chemical induced degranulation may play a key role in pollutant induced airway hyperreactivity.
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