Air Pollution Alone Might
Trigger Asthma Attacks

Using a new testing method in mice, University of California at Los Angeles researchers conclude that air pollution alone may be enough to cause acute asthma flare-ups.

"Previously, we thought that air pollution alone was not enough to incite acute asthma attacks, but also required the presence of allergens such as pollen or house dust mites to establish airway inflammation and allergic response in the airways," principal investigator Dr. Andre Nel, from the David Geffen School of Medicine, says in a prepared statement.

"However, this new experimental study shows that we need to pay closer attention to the intrinsic abilities of the air pollutant particles to induce asthma," Nel says.

The study appears in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Nel and his colleagues gave mice a surrogate allergen meant to be similar to exposing humans to an allergen such as pollen. After several days, the mice were exposed to aerolized diesel particles to simulate inhalation by humans of air pollution particles.

The mice quickly developed an acute asthma-like condition. Next, mice genetically modified to have chronic airway inflammation were exposed to the aerolized diesel particles. They also suffered acute asthma attacks.

The ability of the diesel particles to cause asthma flares in the absence of an allergen or after the allergen effect has diminished indicates air pollution may be more of a factor than previously recognized in acute asthma attacks suffered by people.

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