Research Article Asian Dust Particles Induce Macrophage Inflammatory Responses via Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activation and Reactive Oxygen Species Production

Copyright © 2014 Kazuma Higashisaka et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Asian dust is a springtime meteorological phenomenon that originates in the deserts of China and Mongolia. The dust is carried by prevailing winds across East Asia where it causes serious health problems. Most of the information available on the impact of Asian dust on human health is based on epidemiological investigations, so from a biological standpoint little is known of its effects. To clarify the effects of Asian dust on human health, it is essential to assess inflammatory responses to the dust and to evaluate the involvement of these responses in the pathogenesis or aggravation of disease. Here, we investigated the induction of inflammatory responses by Asian dust particles inmacrophages. Treatment with Asian dust particles induced greater production of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor