Altered deposition of inhaled nanoparticles in subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: BMC pulmonary medicine Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 129 - 11
• Main Authors: Jakobsson, Jonas K F, Aaltonen, H Laura, Nicklasson, Hanna, Gudmundsson, Anders, Rissler, Jenny, Wollmer, Per, Löndahl, Jakob
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 06.08.2018; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: adult; Aerosols; Aged; Air pollution; asymptomatic disease; bioaccumulation; breath holding; bronchodilating agent; carbon monoxide; Case-Control Studies; Chronic obstructive lung disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Clinical Medicine; computer assisted tomography; controlled study; COPD and occupational lung disease; Critical Care Medicine; Development and progression; Disease; Efficiency; Emphysema; Female; forced expiratory volume; Health aspects; Health care; Human; Humans; In vivo study; Inhalation Exposure; Intensive; Internal Medicine; Klinisk medicin; Lung deposition; lung diffusion capacity; Lung diseases; lung emphysema; lung function test; Lungmedicin och allergi; Lungs; major clinical study; Male; measurement; Medical and Health Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; nanoparticle; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - administration & dosage; Nanoparticles - analysis; Obstructive lung disease; Outdoor air quality; Particle size; Physiological aspects; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary Emphysema - physiopathology; Pulmonology; Research Article; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Function Tests; Respiratory Medicine and Allergy; Risk factors; smoking; Smoking - physiopathology; Studies; Sweden; Tissue Distribution; Tomography; vital capacity; volumetry; Sweden; Nanoparticles; Human; Lung deposition; In vivo study; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Inhalation exposure; Emphysema
• ISSN: 1471-2466; 1471-2466
• DOI: 10.1186/s12890-018-0697-2

Background Respiratory tract deposition of airborne particles is a key link to understand their health impact. Experimental data are limited for vulnerable groups such as individuals with respiratory diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in lung deposition of nanoparticles in the distal lung for healthy subjects and subjects with respiratory disease. Methods Lung deposition of nanoparticles (50 and 100 nm) was measured after a 10 s breath-hold for three groups: healthy never-smoking subjects ( n =  17), asymptomatic (active and former) smokers ( n =  15) and subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( n =  16). Measurements were made at 1300 mL and 1800 mL volumetric lung depth. Each subject also underwent conventional lung function tests, including post bronchodilator FEV 1 , VC, and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide, D L,CO . Patients with previously diagnosed respiratory disease underwent a CT-scan of the lungs. Particle lung deposition fraction, was compared between the groups and with conventional lung function tests. Results We found that the deposition fraction was significantly lower for subjects with emphysema compared to the other subjects ( p  = 0.001–0.01), but no significant differences were found between healthy never-smokers and smokers. Furthermore, the particle deposition correlated with pulmonary function tests, FEV 1%Pred ( p  < 0.05), FEV 1 /VC %Pred ( p  < 0.01) and D L,CO ( p  < 0.0005) when all subjects were included. Furthermore, for subjects with emphysema, deposition fraction correlated strongly with D L,CO (Pearson’s r  = 0.80–0.85, p  < 0.002) while this correlation was not found within the other groups. Conclusions Lower deposition fraction was observed for emphysematous subjects and this can be explained by enlarged distal airspaces in the lungs. As expected, deposition increases for smaller particles and deeper inhalation. The observed results have implications for exposure assessment of air pollution and dosimetry of aerosol-based drug delivery of nanoparticles.