Summary
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Cumulative epidemiological and experimental evidence have shown that exposure to air pollutants leads to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These associations have been mostly ascribed to the particulate matter (PM) components. We have found that exposures to ambient ultrafine particles (UFP), with an aerodynamic diameter less than 0.18 µm, and/or diesel exhaust, rich in ultrafine PM, lead to enhanced lipid peroxidation, metabolic derangements, liver steatosis and atherosclerosis. Inhalation of PM exerts prooxidant actions in the lungs but the mechanisms
