Investigation into the pulmonary inflammopathology of exposure to nickel oxide nanoparticles in mice

[[abstract]]We investigated the effects of nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiONPs) on the pulmonary inflammopathology. NiONPs were intratracheally installed into mice, and lung injury and inflammation were evaluated between 1 and 28 d. NiONPs caused significant increases in LDH, total protein, and IL-6 and a decrease in IL-10 in the BALF and increases in 8-OHdG and caspase-3 in lung tissues at 24h. Airway inflammation was present in a dose-dependent manner from the upper to lower airways at 24h of exposure as analyzed by SPECT. Lung parenchyma inflammation and small airway inflammation were observed by CT after NiONP exposure. 8-OHdG in lung tissues had increased with formation of fibrosis at 28 d. Focal adhesion was the most important pathways identified at 24h as determined by protemics, whereas glutathione metabolism was the most important identified at 28 d. Our results demonstrated the pulmonary inflammopathology caused by NiONPs based on image-to-biochemical approaches