Abstract
Air pollution exposure has been linked to modifications of both extracellular vesicle (EV) concentration and nasal microbiota structure (NMB), which might act as the respiratory health gatekeeper. This study aimed to assess whether an unbalanced NMB could modify the effect of particulate matter (PM) exposure on plasmatic EV levels. Due to two different NMB taxonomical profiles characterized by a widely different relative abundance of the Moraxella genus, the enrolled population was stratified into Mor− (balanced NMB) and Mor+ (unbalanced NMB) groups (Moraxella genus’s cut-off ≤25% and >25%, respectively). EV features were assessed by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and flow-cytometry (FC). Multivariable analyses were applied on EV outcomes to evaluate a possible association between PM10 and PM2.5 and plasmatic EV levels. The Mor− group revealed positive associations between PM levels and plasmatic CD105+ EVs (GMR = 4.39 p = 0.02) as for total EV count (GMR = 1.92 p = 0.02). Conversely, the Mor+ group showed a negative association between exposure and EV outcomes (CD66+ GMR = 0.004 p = 0.01; EpCAM+ GMR = 0.005 p = 0.01). Our findings provide an insight regarding how a balanced NMB may help to counteract PM exposure effects in terms of plasmatic EV concentration. Further research is necessary to understand the relationship between the host and the NMB to disentangle the mechanism exerted by inhaled pollutants in modulating EVs and NMB.
Highlights
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are powerful and not yet fully understood biological effectors shared between domains of life [1].Several biological molecules have been identified to be carried into the extracellular vesicle (EV), such as DNA, smallRNA, and non-coding RNA, including miRNAs of different size [2,3], proteins, and other soluble factors [4], which are internalized by recipient cells after either EV interaction through surface-expressed ligands or endocytosis [5]
Among the 51 subjects, a DNA yield sufficient to perform nasal microbiota structure (NMB) analysis was retrieved for only 40 samples (78%)
We investigated the effects of short-term particulate matter (PM) exposure on plasmatic EV levels in a healthy population, stratified into Mor− and Mor+ groups according to NMB Moraxella genus relative abundance, in order to assess the possible role played by the nasal bacteria community as a factor of susceptibility or resistance to the widely known adverse-inhaled pollutant effects
Summary
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are powerful and not yet fully understood biological effectors shared between domains of life [1].Several biological molecules have been identified to be carried into the EVs, such as DNA, smallRNA, and non-coding RNA, including miRNAs of different size [2,3], proteins, and other soluble factors [4], which are internalized by recipient cells after either EV interaction through surface-expressed ligands or endocytosis [5]. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are powerful and not yet fully understood biological effectors shared between domains of life [1]. Several biological molecules have been identified to be carried into the EVs, such as DNA, small. RNA, and non-coding RNA, including miRNAs of different size [2,3], proteins, and other soluble factors [4], which are internalized by recipient cells after either EV interaction through surface-expressed ligands or endocytosis [5]. Different studies have underlined that EVs are involved in numerous biological and pathological processes, which span from immune system modulation [6,7], cancer [8], metabolic diseases [9], atherosclerosis [10], and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to allergic airway inflammation [11]. Public Health 2020, 17, 611; doi:10.3390/ijerph17020611 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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