Exposure to traffic exhausts - a study of local and systemic effects in susceptible individuals

Globally 9 million deaths per year are due to exposure to air pollution. Still, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Many adverse effects seems to be associated with disturbed hemostasis.

We have found that proteins belonging to the sytems of homestasis (the coagulation-, complement- and contact systems) are highly abundant in the lining fluid of small airways.

We hypothesize that expsure to airpollution results in activation of this these systems in the liquid lining fluid of the small airways, where most inhaled particles deposit.

Further that the activation  may spread to the systemic circulation in susceptible individuals.We will examine 30 subjects with mild-moderate COPD and 30 healthy controls, half of them living close to a highly trafficated road, three times including sampling of droplets (i.e. endogenous exhaled particles, PEX)  of lining fluid sampled  in breath, and plasma for the examination of extracellular vesicles.

Ambient particles will be sampled and used to expose in-vitro-models for a broader assessment of their pro-inflammatory effects. We aim for the identification of biomarkers in PEx that predict a systemic response to exposure to airpollutants.

A successful completion of the project will generate new knowledge on the mechanism behind adverse effects of air pollution, of great importance both for preventive health work and to identify novel treatments.