In agricultural and other environments, inhalation of airborne microorganisms is linked to respiratory disease development. Bacterial endotoxins, peptidoglycans, and fungi are potential causative agents, but relative microbial characterization and inflammatory comparisons amongst agricultural dusts are not well described. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of microbial endotoxin, 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OHFA), muramic acid, and ergosterol and evaluate inflammatory responses in human monocytes and bronchial epithelial cells with various dust samples. Settled surface dust from 5 environments was obtained: swine facility, dairy barn, grain elevator, domestic home (no pets) and domestic home with dog. Endotoxin concentration was determined by recombinant Factor C (rFC). 3-OHFA, muramic acid and ergosterol were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Dust-induced inflammatory cytokine secretion in human monocytes and bronchial epithelial cells was evaluated. Endotoxin-independent dust-induced inflammatory responses were evaluated. Endotoxin and 3-OHFA levels were highest in agricultural dusts. Muramic acid, endotoxin, 3-OHFA and ergosterol were detected in dusts samples. Muramic acid was highest in animal farming dusts. Ergosterol was most significant in grain elevator dust. Agricultural dusts induced monocyte TNFα, IL-6, IL-8 and epithelial cell IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. Monocyte and epithelial IL-6 and IL-8 secretion was not dependent on endotoxin. House dust(s)-induced monocyte TNFα, IL-6, IL-8 secretion. Swine facility dust generally produced elevated responses compared to other dusts. Agricultural dusts are complex with significant microbial component contribution. Large animal farming dust(s)-induced inflammation is not entirely dependent on endotoxin. Addition of muramic acid to endotoxin in large animal farming environment monitoring is warranted.

No abstract

Gottipati KR, Bandari SK, Nonnenmann MW, Levin JL, Dooley GP, Reynolds SJ, Boggaram V. Transcriptional mechanisms and protein kinase signaling mediate organic dust induction of IL-8 expression in lung epithelial and THP-1 cells.

Opioid transport into the central nervous system is crucial for the analgesic efficacy of opioid drugs. Thus, the pharmacokinetics of opioid analgesics such as morphine have been extensively studied in systemic circulation and the brain. While opioid metabolites are routinely detected in the vitreous fluid of the eye during postmortem toxicological analyses, the pharmacokinetics of morphine within the retina of the eye remains largely unexplored. In this study, we measured morphine in mouse retina following systemic exposure. We showed that morphine deposits and persists in the retina long after levels have dropped in the serum. Moreover, we found that morphine concentrations (ng/mg tissue) in the retina exceeded brain morphine concentrations at all time points tested. Perhaps most intriguingly, these data indicate that following chronic systemic exposure, morphine accumulates in the retina, but not in the brain or serum. These results suggest that morphine can accumulate in the retina following chronic use, which could contribute to the deleterious effects of chronic opioid use on both image-forming and non-image-forming visual functions.