Biologic effects of oil fly ash.

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated increased human morbidity and mortality with elevations in the concentration of ambient air particulate matter (PM). Fugitive fly ash from the combustion of oil and residual fuel oil significantly contributes to the ambient air particle burden. Residual oil fly ash (ROFA) is remarkable in the capacity to provoke injury in experimental systems. The unique composition of this emission source particle makes it particularly useful as a surrogate for ambient air PM in studies of biologic effects testing the hypothesis that metals mediate the biologic effects of air pollution particles. A majority of the in vitro and animal model investigations support the postulate that transition metals present in ROFA (especially vanadium) participate in Fenton-like chemical reactions to produce reactive oxygen species. This is associated with tyrosine phosphorylation, nuclear factor kappa B and other transcription factor activation, induction of inflammatory mediator expression, and inflammatory lung injury. It is also evident that vanadium accounts for a significant portion of the biologic activity of ROFA. The extrapolation of this body of investigation on ROFA to the field of ambient air PM is difficult, as particles in numerous environments have such small amounts of vanadium

Health Information Needs and the Internet: A Survey of Older Adults

This study describes a survey of 75 older adults at three Senior Centers in Durham, North Carolina and one retirement community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The survey was conducted to determine which types of health information and which Internet capabilities, used to access that information, seniors think are important. As people age health concerns may become more apparent. Respondents indicated that disease specific and drug information were the most important types of health information, followed by contact information for local health facilities, physicians and support groups. 34.7% of the respondents indicated that they had experience with the Internet. Those subjects reported that links to national health databases and online consultation with medical experts were the most important Internet capabilities

Transcription factor activation following exposure of an intact lung preparation to metallic particulate matter.

Metallic constituents contained in ambient particulate matter have been associated with adverse effects in a number of epidemiologic, in vitro, and in vivo studies. Residual oil fly ash (ROFA) is a metallic by-product of the combustion of fossil fuel oil, which has been shown to induce a variety of proinflammatory responses in lung cells. We have examined signaling pathways activated in response to ROFA exposure and recently reported that ROFA treatment activates multiple mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases in the rat lung. In the present study we extended our investigations on the mechanism of toxicity of ROFA to include transcription factors whose activities are regulated by MAP kinases as well as possible effectors of transcriptional changes that mediate the effects of ROFA. We applied immunohistochemical methods to detect ROFA-induced activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF kappa B), activating transcription factor-2 (ATF-2), c-Jun, and cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in intact lung tissue and confirmed and characterized their functional activation using DNA binding assays. We performed these studies using a perfused rabbit lung model that is devoid of blood elements in order to distinguish between intrinsic lung cell effects and effects that are secondary to inflammatory cell influx. We report here that exposure to ROFA results in a rapid activation of all of the transcription factors studied by exerting direct effects on lung cells. These findings validate the use of immunohistochemistry to detect transcription factor activation in vivo and demonstrate the utility of studying signaling changes in response to environmental exposures

Linking Oxidative Events to Inflammatory and Adaptive Gene Expression Induced by Exposure to an Organic Particulate Matter Component

Background: Toxicological studies have correlated inflammatory effects of diesel exhaust particles (DEP) with its organic constituents, such as the organic electrophile 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NQ)

Capitalizing on Our Strengths to Improve the Public's Understanding of Health Information Through the Radio

Background: Health Sciences librarians at UNC Chapel Hill partner with producers of the YOUR HEALTH blog and radio show hosted by clinicians in the UNC Family Medicine Department. We helped develop the show’s interactive blog and continue to work with the show’s hosts and producer to improve website usability. Currently, HSL librarians are also improving and adding to consumer health information on the show’s blog

Ambient Particulate Matter Induces Interleukin-8 Expression through an Alternative NF-κB (Nuclear Factor-Kappa B) Mechanism in Human Airway Epithelial Cells

Background: Exposure to ambient air particulate matter (PM) has been shown to increase rates of cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality, but the underlying mechanisms are still not well understood