Exposure to particulate matter (PM) pollution has direct impacts on the respiratory organs. However, the molecular alterations underlying PM-induced pulmonary injury remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects and pathomechanism of PM in lungs.

The rat model was previously reported as whole-body exposure to traffic-related PM1 pollutant (PM1 group), high-efficiency particulate air-filtered gaseous pollutant (GAS group), and clean air control (CTL group) for 3 and 6 months. We performed lung function and histological examinations as well as quantitative proteomics analysis to unravel the structural and molecular changes in rat lungs upon sub-chronic and chronic exposures of PM1.
Our study illustrated earlier lung injury prior to lung function decline and the underlying pathomechanism associated with traffic-related PM1-induced lung injury.