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Mild allergic airways responses to an environmental mixture increase cardiovascular risk in rats

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Recent epidemiological findings link asthma to adverse cardiovascular responses. Yet, the precise cardiovascular impacts of allergic airways disease alone have been challenging to disentangle from the potential cardiovascular effects caused by asthma medication. The purpose of this study was to determine the impacts of allergic airways disease alone on cardiovascular function in an experimental model. Female Wistar rats were intranasally sensitized and then challenged once per week for five weeks with saline vehicle or a mixture of environmental allergens (ragweed, house dust mite, and aspergillus fumigatus). Ventilatory and cardiovascular function, measured using double chamber plethysmography and implantable blood pressure (BP) telemetry and cardiovascular ultrasound, respectively, were assessed before sensitization and after single and final allergen challenge. Responses to a single 0.5 ppm ozone exposure and to the cardiac arrhythmogenic agent aconitine were also assessed after final challenge. A single allergen challenge in sensitized rats increased tidal volume and specific airways resistance in response to provocation with methacholine and increased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, cytokines interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-α and keratinocyte chemoattract-growth-related oncogene characteristic of allergic airways responses. Lung responses after final allergen challenge in sensitized rats were diminished although ozone exposure increased BALF IL-6, IL-13, IL-1 β, and interferon-g and modified ventilatory responses only in the allergen group. Final allergen challenge also increased systolic and diastolic BP, stroke volume, cardiac output, sensitivity to aconitine-induced cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac gene expression with lesser effects after a single challenge. These findings demonstrate that allergic airways disease may increase cardiovascular risk in part by altering blood pressure and myocardial function and by causing cardiac electrical instability.

Impact/Purpose

A handful of studies have demonstrated that asthma increases risk for stroke, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. The precise cardiovascular risks associated with asthma are unknown. Moreover, climate change-related increases in the duration and intensity of allergy season combined with other emerging factors such as wildland fire-related air pollution may worsen asthma-related cardiovascular risk in the years to come. This manuscript is based on a study that examined the cardiovascular impacts of allergic airways disease in an experimental model. Allergic airways disease was elicited via intra-airway administration of a mixture of climate change-related environmental aeroallergens including ragweed pollen, aspergillus fumigatus (fungal) and house dust mite. Study findings indicate for the first time that an allergen treatment regimen that elicited allergic airways responses also caused several measurable changes in cardiovascular function and sensitivity, supporting previous findings linking asthma with increased cardiovascular risk. Furthermore, allergy altered cardiopulmonary sensitivity to inhaled ozone. These findings suggest that elevations in ambient levels of aeroallergens may increase previously underappreciated asthma-related cardiovascular risk. These findings may also aid in the identification of new susceptible subgroups and increase awareness of new hazards related to inhaled allergens and the potential for interactive effects with air pollution.  

Citation

Farraj, A., B. Martin, M. Schladweiler, C. Miller, J. Smoot, W. Williams, A. Astriab Fisher, W. Oshiro, A. Tennant, W. Martin, A. Henriquez, R. Grindstaff, S. Gavett, Matthew Gilmour, U. Kodavanti, M. Hazari, AND J. Dye. Mild allergic airways responses to an environmental mixture increase cardiovascular risk in rats. Society of Toxicology, RESTON, VA, 191(1):106-122, (2023). [DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfac112]

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DOI: Mild allergic airways responses to an environmental mixture increase cardiovascular risk in rats
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Last updated on December 13, 2024
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