Ambient air particulates stimulate alveolar macrophages of smokers to promote differentiation of myeloid precursor cells.

Studies from our laboratory have shown that exposure to air pollution particles smaller than 10 microm (PM10) induced a systemic inflammatory response that includes the release of granulocytes from the bone marrow. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that mediators released from human alveolar macrophages (AM) exposed to PM10 accelerate the maturation of granulocyte precursors. Human myeloid precursor cells (HL60 cells) were incubated with the supernatant from AM exposed to PM10. Phagocytosis of PM10 by AM resulted in the production of cytokines, particularly interleukin-6 (IL-6) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) (P < .05). The supernatant from AM exposed to PM10 did not influence myeloid cell proliferation but promoted cell differentiation as measured by surface GD11b and CD14 expressions compared to control supernatant (P < .05). This effect of exposed-AM supernatants on myeloid cell differentiation was blocked by anti-IL-6 monoclonal antibodies (CD11b and CD14; P < .05) and anti-GM-CSF monoclonal antibodies (CD14, P < .01). We conclude that human AM exposed to PM10 produce mediators, particularly IL-6 and GM-CSF that promote the differentiation of bone marrow myeloid cells and we speculate that these cytokines are involved in the release of granulocytes from the bone marrow associated with exposure to air pollution particulates.