Agricultural Dust Exposure May Pose Significant Risks To Gut Health

Inhaling cultivation particulate whitethorn airs important risks to gut wellness for workers successful animal agriculture, a University of California, Riverside, study has found. 

Led by Declan McCole, a professor of biomedical sciences successful nan UCR School of Medicine, nan study expands connected anterior findings that hog workplace particulate causes airway inflammation. The researchers now study successful nan Journal of Applied Toxicology that inhaling this particulate besides alters nan gut microbiome and impairs intestinal function, including accrued "leaky gut" aliases intestinal permeability. Leaky gut is associated pinch a scope of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and type 1 diabetes.

"Exposure to swine workplace dust, which contains precocious levels of germs and endotoxins, caused some airway inflammation and accrued transition of gut bacterial products into nan bloodstream successful our rodent models," said Meli'sa Crawford, a erstwhile postdoctoral interrogator successful McCole's laboratory and nan paper's first author. "But what's particularly striking is nan effect we observed connected nan gut microbiome and metabolism."

The researchers exposed mice intranasally to hog particulate extract for 3 weeks. The mice showed a important driblet successful beneficial bacterial species, including Akkermansia muciniphila, Clostridium sp. ASF356, and Lachnospiraceae bacterium. 

The investigation squad besides recovered decreased levels of captious compounds successful nan gut of nan mice, specified arsenic riboflavin, nicotinic acid, inosine, and leucine - cardinal players successful power metabolism, immune regulation, and gut obstruction maintenance.

While astir investigation has focused connected nan respiratory effects of workplace dust, our findings intelligibly show that inhaled pollutants tin person systemic consequences. This investigation underscores nan value of considering nan gut–lung axis erstwhile assessing nan wellness risks of bioaerosol vulnerability successful agriculture."

Declan McCole, professor of biomedical sciences, UCR School of Medicine

The study builds connected increasing grounds that contamination from concentrated animal feeding operations tin effect aggregate organ systems. 

"Agricultural particulate is rich | successful good particulate matter and resistant bacteria, presenting a analyzable threat to farmworkers' health," McCole said. "Our earlier activity showed that inhaled hog particulate extract leads to neutrophilic lung inflammation. We now show nan nexus to intestinal obstruction dysfunction and microbial imbalance, highlighting nan request for improved workplace protections for cultivation workers to mitigate semipermanent wellness consequences."

The study was supported by grants from nan National Institutes of Health; University of California, Davis-Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety; and University of California Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Crawford is now an adjunct professor successful nan Department of Animal Sciences astatine Rutgers University successful New Jersey.

The title of the research paper is "Respiratory Exposure to Agriculture Dust Extract Alters Gut Commensal Species and Key Metabolites successful Mice."