What's New List Serve Post Display

Persistent Immune Effects of Wildfire PM Exposure During
Childhood Development. Lisa Miller, Ph.D., School of Veterinary
Medicine, University of California, Davis

http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/seminars.htm
January 7th 10:00 AM-12 noon

Deborah Drechsler, contract manager
Peter Mathews, series contact

ABSTRACT:       During July 2008 a series of wildfires ignited in
Northern California, leading to high PM2.5 levels in the
Sacramento Valley that lasted for about two weeks.  The
California National Primate Center, at UC Davis, has a large
population of rhesus macaque monkeys that live in outdoor field
cages, where they were exposed to these elevated air pollution
levels. The fires occurred near the end of the season when the
monkey's babies are typically born, and thus there were a
significant number of animals in the colony that were between one
and three months of age at the time of the fires. Infancy may be
associated with increased vulnerability to high levels of air
pollution exposure because of the rapid lung and immune system
development that occur during the early months of life. Several
studies suggest that short-term exposure to wildfire emissions
(over a few days) can worsen symptoms of asthma and other lung
diseases, but no studies have investigated whether there are
long-term health consequences to such exposures. To address gaps
in our understanding of the biologic effects of air pollutant
exposure during early life, the investigators compared the levels
of immune system activation in smoke exposed animals, and in a
group of animals born during the same months the following year
during which there were no wildfires. Both groups of animals also
completed a series of lung function tests.  All animals were
studied when they were three years of age (young adulthood).  No
animals were harmed in any way during the study. The results
showed lower levels of markers of immune system activation in
smoke exposed animals compared to control animals, suggesting
that these animals are more susceptible to infectious diseases.
Animals that had the most impaired response to bacterial
challenge tended to also have reductions in several measures of
lung function, particularly female animals.   These results
suggest that infancy is a period during which high PM2.5
exposures may adversely influence development of the branch of
the immune system that combats infectious disease, and also
adversely affects the development of lung function, leading to
changes that persist into adulthood.