Effect of Nanoparticles Exposure on Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FENO) in Workers Exposed to Nanomaterials

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Wei-Te Wu¹  Hui-Yi Liao¹  Yu-Teh Chung¹  Wan-Fen Li³  Tsui-Chun Tsou¹  Lih-Ann Li¹  Ming-Hsiu Lin²  Jiune-Jye Ho²  Trong-Neng Wu¹ 

[1] Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli 350, Taiwan; E-Mails:;Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan R.O.C., New Taipei 221, Taiwan; E-Mails:;Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: nanoparticles;    nanomaterials;    workers’s respiratory health;    airway inflammation;    Fractional exhaled nitric oxide;    occupational epidemiology;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms15010878

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) measurement is a useful diagnostic test of airway inflammation. However, there have been few studies of FENO in workers exposed to nanomaterials. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of nanoparticle (NP) exposure on FENO and to assess whether the FENO is increased in workers exposed to nanomaterials (NM). In this study, both exposed workers and non-exposed controls were recruited from NM handling plants in Taiwan. A total of 437 subjects (exposed group = 241, non-exposed group = 196) completed the FENO and spirometric measurements from 2009–2011. The authors used a control-banding (CB) matrix to categorize the risk level of each participant. In a multivariate linear regression analysis, this study found a significant association between risk level 2 of NP exposure and FENO. Furthermore, asthma, allergic rhinitis, peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and NF-κB were also significantly associated with FENO. When the multivariate logistic regression model was adjusted for confounders, nano-TiO₂ in all of the NM exposed categories had a significantly increased risk in FENO > 35 ppb. This study found associations between the risk level of NP exposure and FENO (particularly noteworthy for Nano-TiO₂). Monitoring FENO in the lung could open up a window into the role nitric oxide (NO) may play in pathogenesis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland