Effects of PM2.5 Exposure on the ACE/ACE2 Pathway: Possible Implication in COVID-19 Pandemic

Laura Botto, Elena Lonati, Stefania Russo, Emanuela Cazzaniga, Alessandra Bulbarelli and Paola Palestini ()
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Laura Botto: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Elena Lonati: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Stefania Russo: FIMP-Federazione Italiana Medici Pediatri, 00185 Rome, Italy
Emanuela Cazzaniga: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Alessandra Bulbarelli: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Paola Palestini: School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Particulate matter (PM) is a harmful component of urban air pollution and PM2.5, in particular, can settle in the deep airways. The RAS system plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of pollution-induced inflammatory diseases: the ACE/AngII/AT1 axis activates a pro-inflammatory pathway counteracted by the ACE2/Ang(1-7)/MAS axis, which in turn triggers an anti-inflammatory and protective pathway. However, ACE2 acts also as a receptor through which SARS-CoV-2 penetrates host cells to replicate. COX-2, HO-1, and iNOS are other crucial proteins involved in ultrafine particles (UFP)-induced inflammation and oxidative stress, but closely related to the course of the COVID-19 disease. BALB/c male mice were subjected to PM2.5 sub-acute exposure to study its effects on ACE2 and ACE, COX-2, HO-1 and iNOS proteins levels, in the main organs concerned with the pathogenesis of COVID-19. The results obtained show that sub-acute exposure to PM2.5 induces organ-specific modifications which might predispose to greater susceptibility to severe symptomatology in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The novelty of this work consists in using a molecular study, carried out in the lung but also in the main organs involved in the disease, to analyze the close relationship between exposure to pollution and the pathogenesis of COVID-19.

Keywords: PM2.5; mice model; RAS system; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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