Journal of Clinical Toxicology
Open Access

The effects of biomass burning from Amazon region on human lung cells

4^th Global Summit on Toxicology

August 24-26, 2015 Philadelphia, USA

Nilmara de Oliveira Alves1, Annabel Quinet1, Rodrigo S Fortunato2, Gustavo Satoru1, Sofia Caumo1, Adriana M de Oliveira Fonoff1, Sandra Hacon3, Paulo Artaxo1, P�?©rola Vasconcellos1, Carlos F M Menck1 and Silvia Batistuzzo de Medeiros4

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Clin Toxicol

Abstract :

The Brazilian Amazon population has been negatively affected by biomass burning. The majority of forest fire hotspots in the
Amazon take place in the deforestation arc with a population of over 10 million inhabitants. However, there are few studies
to understand the mechanism of action of aerosols in human health. Thus, we collected filters with particulate matter (PM10) to
investigate the effects of biomass burning at molecular and cellular levels using human lung cells (A549). The chromatography-mass
spectrometry analysis showed the presence of carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds. After chemical analysis, we defined a dose
below the limit established by the World Health Organization (30 μg/m3). After 24 hours of exposure, there was an increase of proinflammatory
cytokines and ROS generation, in a dose and time dependent manner. Besides, there was an induction of cell cycle
arrest at G1 phase, as well as an increase in the expression p53 protein and formation of DNA strand breaks. After 72 hours, we
detected a significant increase of cells in the sub-G1 fraction, indicating apoptosis. Additionally, we observed the phosphorylation of
H2AX (γ-H2AX), which correlated with the activation of caspase 3, suggesting that the induction of γ-H2AX may be associated with
the DNA fragmentation during apoptosis. We also observed that necrosis is a cell demise pathway induced by PM10. This study shows
an important advance in understanding the toxic cellular and molecular effects induced by PM10 that can be related to the increased
potential of human health impacts in the Amazon region.

Biography :

Nilmara de Oliveira Alves is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo. The researcher, who recently received her Doctoral title, focuses
on atmospheric pollutants and especially on their effects on health using both in vitro and in vivo tests. For that end, she conducts interdisciplinary projects comprising
genotoxicity, DNA repair, pathology and atmospheric chemistry.