Generation of glycolaldehyde from guinea pig airway epithelial monolayers exposed to nitrogen dioxide and its effects on sodium pump activity.

Pulmonary injury from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) may in part be related to the generation of aldehydic compounds, which bind with cellular proteins and subsequently impair or inhibit cell function. We examined the generation of aldehydes from guinea pig tracheobronchial epithelial (GPTE) cell monolayers exposed to NO2. With the use of dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNP) to derivatize aldehydic compounds, glycolaldehyde, a two carbon alpha-hydroxyaldehyde, was identified in elevated levels in the basolateral fluid from monolayers exposed to NO2. DNP-glycolaldehyde levels were 81.2 +/- 2.7 and 234.0 +/- 42.6 nM in response to a 1-hr exposure to 1 and 5 ppm NO2, respectively, as compared to an air-control value of 20.3 +/- 6.8 nM. Taking into account dilution and reactivity, cellular glycolaldehyde levels could have reached as high as 3 mM for the 60-min exposure period (i.e., 0.05 mM/min). The effects of exogenous glycolaldehyde on GPTE ouabain-sensitive basolateral 86Rb uptake (an index of Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity) w...