Prospective Study of Metal Fume-Induced Responses of Global Gene Expression Profiling in Whole Blood

Metal particulate inhalation causes pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. Our previous results showed that systemic responses to short-term occupational welding-fume exposure could be assessed by microarray analyses in whole-blood total RNA sampled before and after exposure. To expand our understanding of the duration of particulate-induced gene expression changes, we conducted a study using a similar population 1 yr after the original study and extended our observations in the postexposure period. We recruited 15 individuals with welding fume exposure and 7 nonexposed individuals. Thirteen of the 22 individuals (9 in exposed group and 4 in nonexposed group) had been monitored in the previous study. Whole-blood total RNA was analyzed at 3 time points, including baseline, immediately following exposure (approximately 5 h after baseline), and 24 h after baseline, using cDNA microarray technology. We replicated the patterns of Gene Ontology (GO) terms associated with response to stimulus, cell death, phosphorus metabolism, localization, and regulation of biological processes significantly enriched with altered genes in the nonsmoking exposed group. Most of the identified genes had opposite expression changes between the exposure and postexposure periods in nonsmoking welders. In addition, we found dose-dependent patterns that were affected by smoking status. In conclusion, short-term occupational exposure to metal particulates causes systemic responses in the peripheral blood. Furthermore, the acute particulate-induced effects on gene expression profiling were transient in nonsmoking welders, with most effects diminishing within 19 h following exposure.