Page 10 - M. Immunology

[M. Immunology-7]

Levels of Pulmonary Cytokines after 4-Weeks Inhalation

Exposure to Graphene Nanoplatelets

Jin Kwon Kim², Jong Seong Lee¹, JinEe Baek¹, Kanho Ahn¹, Il Je Yu³, Jae Hoon Shin¹˙*

¹Institute of Occupation & Environment, KCOMWEL, Incheon 21417, Republic of Korea, ²Department of Mechanical

Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan 15588, Republic of Korea, ³Research Center, HCTM, Icheon 17383,
Republic of Korea

Graphene which has high electric conductivity and unique phsysico-chemical properties would be more likely to

increase the extensive utilization and practical applications for industrial and biomedical fields. There are also

growing concerns that occupational and environmental exposure to graphene may cause potential adverse health
effects. Thus, 4-weeks repeated inhalation exposure to graphene was conducted using a nose-only inhalation system
for male Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were separated into 4 groups and target concentrations were as follows; (1)

control (filtered fresh air), (2) low (0.12 mg/m³), (3) middle (0.47 mg/m³), and (4) high (1.88 mg/m³). The rats were
exposed to graphene nanoplatlets for 4 consecutive weeks (6 hour/day, 5 days/week), followed by recovery for 1,

28, and 90 days. We measured tumor necrosis factor-α, vascular endothelial growth factor, and transforming growth
factor-β1 as pulmonary cytokines in bronchoalevolar lavage fluid of rats. No statistically significant differences were

observed in the levels of pulmonary cytokines between the exposed and control groups. These results suggest that
the 4-weeks repeated inhalation exposure to graphene only had a minimal toxic effect at the concentrations and

time points used in this study.