Authors:
Ramsey KA, Foong RE, Sly PD, Larcombe AN, Zosky GR
Authors notes:
Environmental Health Perspectives. 2013;121(10):1187-1193
Keywords:
Environment, arsenic, lung function, inflammatory response, bronchiectasis
Abstract:
Arsenic is a significant global environmental health problem.
Exposure to arsenic in early life has been shown to increase the rate of respiratory infections during infancy, reduce childhood lung function, and increase the rates of bronchiectasis in early adulthood.
We aimed to determine if early life exposure to arsenic exacerbates the response to early life influenza infection in mice.
Early life arsenic exposure reduced the clearance of and exacerbated the inflammatory response to influenza A, and resulted in acute and long-term changes in lung mechanics and airway structure.
Increased susceptibility to respiratory infections combined with exaggerated inflammatory responses throughout early life may contribute to the development of bronchiectasis in arsenic-exposed populations.