TY - JOUR T1 - Reconstituted human airway epithelium 3D-model to assess the impact of air pollutants on the inflammatory response JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P3881 AU - Gaëlle Bardet AU - Sophie Achard AU - Isabelle Momas AU - Nathalie Seta Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P3881.abstract N2 - The respiratory route is an important portal for human exposure to a large variety of substances suspended in the air, the nasal epithelium being the first line of defense. Consequently, there is an urgent need for realistic in vitro strategies for evaluation of the cellular effect of airborne substances with regard to air pollution. The present study investigated feasibility of a 3D human airway epithelial model to study nasal epithelial answer to gaseous pollutant exposure. Nasal epithelial model (MucilAir™), containing ciliated, mucus and basal cells, cultured at the air–liquid interface, was exposed to tobacco smoke (compared to air) via the apical epithelial surface during 5 minutes, one, two or three-times at 24 h intervals per week. The inflammatory cellular effect of this complex mixture was evaluated by measuring the daily cytokine production in the basolateral culture medium and assessing the beating of the cilia. All experiments ended after 2 or 4 weeks and cellular viability was assessed, as well as trans epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) identified as an early marker of epithelial barrier integrity. A large increase in IL8 and IL6 production depending on the number of exposure to tobacco smoke was observed, whereas no change was observed with air exposure. Considering the absence of cellular toxicity results indicate that the 3D human airway epithelial model used in this study is adapted to repeated gaseous exposures and could be used thereafter to test the effect of airborne pollutants. ER -