Obesity associated with coal ash inhalation triggers systemic inflammation and oxidative damage in the hippocampus of rats

• Published in: Food and chemical toxicology Vol. 133; p. 110766
• Main Authors: Gasparotto, Juciano, Chaves, Paloma Rodrigues, da Boit Martinello, Katia, Silva Oliveira, Luis Felipe, Gelain, Daniel Pens, Fonseca Moreira, José Claudio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2019
• Subjects: Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air pollution; Animals; Catalase - metabolism; Coal Ash - toxicity; Diet, High-Fat; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - drug effects; Inflammation; Inflammation - chemically induced; Inflammation - metabolism; Inhalation Exposure; Male; Obesity - metabolism; Obesogenic diet; Oxidative damage; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Rats, Wistar; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism; Air pollution; Obesogenic diet; Inflammation; Oxidative damage; Hippocampus
• ISSN: 0278-6915; 1873-6351
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2019.110766

People with large amounts of adipose tissue are more vulnerable and more likely to develop diseases where oxidative stress and inflammation play a pivotal role, than persons with a healthy weight. Atmospheric contamination is a reality to which a large part of the worldwide population is exposed. Half of today's global electrical energy is derived from coal. Each organism, in its complexity, responds in different ways to dietary compounds and air pollution. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of obesity and coal ash inhalation within the parameters of oxidative damage and inflammation in different regions of the brain of rats. A diet containing high-fat concentration was administered chronically to rats, along with exposure to coal ash, simulating the contamination that occurs daily throughout human life. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy was performed to identify the particles present in coal ash samples. Our results demonstrated that obese rats exposed to coal ash inhalation were more affected by oxidative damage with subsequent systemic inflammation in the hippocampus. Since there is an inflammatory predisposition caused by obesity, the inhalation of nanoparticles increases the levels of free radicals, resulting in systemic inflammation and oxidative damage, which can lead to chronic neurodegeneration.
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•The association between coal inhalation and obesity represents a risk for the brain.•Coal inhalation associated with high-fat diet induces oxidative damage in the Hippocampus.•The inhalation of coal ash induces pro-inflammatory conditions in the blood circulation and is aggravated by obesity.