Inhalation of titanium dioxide (P25) nanoparticles to rats and changes in surfactant protein (SP-D) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are typical and widely used nanomaterials, and there are many studies on the inflammatory responses induced by their inhalation. In this study, we conducted a 4-week inhalation exposure study of aerosolized TiO2> nanoparticles (P25) to male Wistar rats. The mean aerosol concentration measured at each day was 4.1 mg/m3 by dry powder dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles. Control and exposure groups of rats were killed at 3 and 30 days after the termination of exposure, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum were collected for analysis of total cell count, neutrophil count, and surfactant protein (SP-D) in BALF and SP-D in serum, as well as other serum biomarkers. SP-D is a component of lung surfactants produced in type II alveolar epithelial cells and Clara cells and secreted into the alveolar space and blood. The neutrophil count in the BALF was significantly elevated at 3 and 30 days. The levels of SP-D in the BALF were also elevated at 3 and 30 days, while the serum SP-D levels were elevated at 3 days only. We determined the amounts of TiO2 in the rat lungs in the exposure group at 3, 30, and 73 days to analyze the lung deposition fraction (10.2%) and the biological half-life time (72.4 days) of inhaled TiO2 nanoparticles. Histopathological analysis revealed mild pulmonary inflammation in lung tissue at 3 days. Serum SP-D was found to be a potential biomarker for exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles in this study.