Study of air pollution: Effects of ozone on neuropeptide-mediated responses in human subjects. Final report

Technical Report · Thu Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5375749

Boushey, H A

The study examined the hypothesis that ozone inactivates the enzyme, neutral endopeptidase, responsible for limiting the effects of neuropeptides released from afferent nerve endings. Cough response of capsaicin solution delivered from a nebulizer at 2 min. intervals until two or more coughs were produced. Other endpoints measured included irritative symptoms as rated by the subjects on a nonparametric scale, spirometry, of each concentration of ozone were compared to those of filtered air in a single-blind randomized sequence. The results indicate that a 2 h. exposure to 0.4 ppm of ozone with intermittent light exercise alters the sensitivity of airway nerves that mediate the cough response to inhaled materials. This dose of ozone also caused a change in FEV1. A lower level of ozone, 0.02 ppm, caused a change in neither cough threshold nor FEV1, even when the duration of exposure was extended to three hours. The findings are consistent with the author's hypothesis that ozone may sensitize nerve endings in the airways by inactivating neutral endopeptidase, an enzyme that regulates their activity, but they do not demonstrate that directly examining an effect directly mediated by airway nerves allows detection of effects of ozone at doses below those causing effects detected by standard tests of pulmonary function.

• Research Organization: California Univ., San Francisco, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5375749
• Report Number(s): PB-92-163476/XAB; CNN: ARB-A833-158
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AIR POLLUTION
ANIMALS
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
ENZYMES
EXERCISE
HYDROLASES
MAMMALS
MAN
NERVES
NERVOUS SYSTEM
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OZONE
PEPTIDE HYDROLASES
PEPTIDES
POLLUTION
PRIMATES
PROTEINS
SENSITIVITY
SYMPTOMS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES