Multiwalled carbon nanotube-induced blood genomic changes following aspiration exposure in mice: A 1-year postexposure study.

Pulmonary exposure to multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) induces an inflammatory and rapid fibrotic response, although the long-term signaling mechanisms are unknown. The aim of this study was to perform genome-wide mRNA profiling in mice blood to identify non-invasive blood based biomarkers for medical and occupational surveillance. The pathological results in this 1-year MWCNT post-exposure study was previously published in Snyder-Talkington et al. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2016;79(8):352-66. doi: 10.1080/15287394.2016.1159635. Epub 2016 Apr 19. PMID: 27092743 We evaluated bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid for polymorphonuclear cell (PMN) infiltration and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, and lung histopathology for inflammatory and fibrotic responses in mouse lungs after 1 year post-exposure to a dispersion media (DM) control (Porter et al., 2008); 1, 10, 40, or 80 ug MWCNT; or 120 g crocidolite asbestos by pharyngeal aspiration. Additionally, we determined gene expression changes in mouse lung tissue with increasing doses of MWCNT at 1 year post-exposure to determine potential underlying mechanisms of fibrotic signaling after exposure to MWCNT.