No effect of acute exposure to coarse particulate matter air pollution in a rural location on high-density lipoprotein function

AbstractContext: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles perform numerous vascular-protective functions. Animal studies demonstrate that exposure to fine or ultrafine particulate matter (PM) can promote HDL dysfunction. However, the impact of PM on humans remains unknown.Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of exposure to coarse concentrated ambient particles (CAP) on several metrics of HDL function in healthy humans.Methods: Thirty-two adults (25.9 ± 6.6 years) were exposed to coarse CAP [76.2 ± 51.5 µg·m−3] in a rural location and filtered air (FA) for 2 h in a randomized double-blind crossover study. Venous blood collected 2- and 20-h post-exposures was measured for HDL-mediated efflux of [3H]-cholesterol from cells and 20-h exposures for HDL anti-oxidant capacity by a fluorescent assay and paraoxonase activity. The changes [median (first, third quartiles)] between exposures among 29 subjects with available results were compared by matched Wilcoxon tests.Results: HDL-mediated cholesterol efflux...