Microarray-based analysis of the lung recovery process after stainless-steel welding fume exposure in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Abstract

Repeated exposure to welding fumes promotes a reversible increase in pulmonary disease risk, but the molecular mechanisms by which welding fumes induce lung injury and how the lung recovers from such insults are unclear. In the present study, pulmonary function and gene-expression profiles in the lung were analyzed by Affymetrix GeneChip microarray after 30 days of consecutive exposure to manual metal arc welding combined with stainless-steel (MMA-SS) welding fumes, and again after 30 days of recovery from MMA-SS fume exposure. In total, 577 genes were identified as being either up-regulated or down-regulated (over twofold changes, p < 0.05) in the lungs of low-dose or high-dose groups. Differentially expressed genes were classified based on a k-means clustering algorithm and biological functions and molecular networks were further analyzed using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis. Among the genes affected by exposure to or recovery from MMA-SS fumes, the transcriptional changes of 13 genes that were highly altered by treatment were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR. Notably, Mmp12, Cd5l, Ccl7, Cxcl5, and Spp1 related to the immune response were up-regulated only in the exposure group, whereas Trem2, IgG-2a, Igh-1a, and Igh were persistently up-regulated in both the exposure and recovery groups. In addition, several genes that might play a role in the repair process of the lung were up-regulated exclusively in the recovery group. Collectively, these data may help elucidate the molecular mechanism of the recovery process of the lung after welding fume exposure.

• Authors: Jung-Hwa Oh, Mi-jin Yang, Young-Su Yang, Han-Jin Park, Sun Hee Heo, Eun-Hee Lee, Chang-Woo Song, Seokjoo Yoon
• Journal: Inhalation toxicology (Inhal Toxicol) Vol. 21 Issue 4 Pg. 347-73 (Feb 2009) ISSN: 1091-7691 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 19235613 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Air Pollutants, Occupational
• Stainless Steel
• RNA

Topics

• Air Pollutants, Occupational (toxicity)
• Animals
• Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid
• Gene Expression (drug effects)
• Lung (pathology)
• Male
• Occupational Exposure (adverse effects)
• Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
• Pneumonia (genetics, pathology)
• RNA (biosynthesis, genetics)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Stainless Steel
• Welding