Swapna Upadhyay

Karolinska Institutet | KI · Institute of Environmental Medicine - IMM

High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and ventilator-delivered non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) were used to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to COVID-19 pneumonia, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), due to lack of ventilators and manpower resources despite the paucity of data regarding their efficacy. Thi...

Biodiesel is considered to be a sustainable alternative for fossil fuels such as petroleum-based diesel. However, we still lack knowledge about the impact of biodiesel emissions on humans, as airways and lungs are the primary target organs of inhaled toxicants. This study investigated the effect of exhaust particles from well-characterized rapeseed...

Citation: Rai, M.; Parthasarathi, A.; Beeraka, N.M.; Kaleem Ullah, M.; Malamardi, S.; Padukudru, S.; Siddaiah, J.B.; Uthaiah, C.A.; Vishwanath, P.; Chaya, S.K.; et al. Circulatory Serum Krebs von Den Lungen-6 and Surfactant Protein-D Concentrations Predict Interstitial Lung Disease Progression and Mortality. Cells 2023, 12, 1281..in (P.A.M.) † Thes...

Acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) are clinically significant events having therapeutic and prognostic consequences. However, there is a lot of variation in its clinical manifestations described by phenotypes. The phenotypes of AECOPD were categorized in this study based on pathology and exposure. In our cross-sectional study, conducted between 1...

Clinical cases and experimental evidence show that electronic cigarette (ECIG) induce serious adverse health effects but underlying mechanisms much remain to be uncovered. Based on recent exploratory evidence, investigating the effects of ECIG on macrophages can broadly define potential mechanisms by focusing on the effect of ECIG exposure with or...

Clinical cases and experimental evidence show that electronic cigarette (ECIG) induce serious adverse health effects but underlying mechanisms much remain to be uncovered. Based on recent exploratory evidence, investigating the effects of ECIG on macrophages can broadly define potential mechanisms by focusing on the effect of ECIG exposure with or...

Heated tobacco products (HTP) are novel nicotine delivery products with limited toxicological data. HTP uses heating instead of combustion to generate aerosol (HTP-smoke). Physiologically relevant human bronchial and alveolar lung mucosa models developed at air–liquid interface were exposed to HTP-smoke to assess broad toxicological response (n = 6...

To achieve herd immunity to a disease, a large portion of the population needs to be vaccinated, which is possible only when there is broad acceptance of the vaccine within the community. Thus, policymakers need to understand how the general public will perceive the vaccine. This study focused on the degree of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and refusal...

Background Biodiesel is considered as a Sustainable alternative for fossil fuels such as petro-diesel. However, we still lack knowledge about the impact of biodiesel emissions on human. The airway is the primary target organ of inhaled toxicants. Our current study investigated the effect of exhaust particles from well characterized rapeseed methyl...

There is mounting evidence that shows the association between chronic exposure to air pollutants (particulate matter and gaseous) and onset of various respiratory impairments. However, the corresponding toxicological mechanisms of mixed exposure are poorly understood. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to establish a repeated exposure setting for e...

Despite the growing popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) over the last decade, few epidemiological studies have examined the influence on respiratory health in young adulthood. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with e-cigarette use in young adulthood in Sweden, and to examine associations between e-cigarette use...

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mediates attachment of the virus to the host cell receptor and fusion between the virus and the cell membrane. The S1 subunit of the spike glycoprotein (S1 protein) contains the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor binding domain. The SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern contain mutations in the S1 sub...

Secretoglobin family 1A member 1 (SCGB1A1) alternatively known as club cell protein 16 is a protective pneumo-protein. Decreased serum levels of SCGB1A1 have been associated with tobacco smoke induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (TS-COPD). Exposure to biomass smoke (BMS) is an important COPD risk factor among women in low and lower-middle...

Limited toxicity data on electronic cigarette (ECIG) impede evidence-based policy recommendations. We compared two popular mixed fruit flavored ECIG-liquids with and without nicotine aerosolized at 40 W (E-smoke) with respect to particle number concentrations, chemical composition, and response on physiologically relevant human bronchial and alveol...

Background. Acrolein is a major component of environmental pollutants, cigarette smoke, and is also formed by heating cooking oil. We evaluated the interstrain variability of response to subchronic inhalation exposure to acrolein among inbred mouse strains for inflammation, oxidative stress, and tissue injury responses. Furthermore, we studied the...

In this study, a genetically diverse panel of 43 mouse strains was exposed to ammonia and genome-wide association mapping was performed employing a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assembly. Transcriptomic analysis was used to help resolve the genetic determinants of ammonia-induced acute lung injury. The encoded proteins were prioritize based...

This report summarizes the outcome of a workshop held in Mysuru, India in January 2020 addressing the adverse health effects of exposure to biomass smoke (BMS). The aim of the workshop was to identify uncertainties and gaps in knowledge and possible methods to address them in the Mysuru study on Determinants of Health in Rural Adults (MUDHRA) cohor...

Carbon nanoparticles (CNP) are generated by incomplete combustion of diesel engines. Several epidemiological studies associated higher susceptibility to particulate matter related adverse respiratory outcomes with preexisting conditions like chronic bronchitis (CB). Therefore, we compared the effect of CNP exposure on primary bronchial epithelial c...

Diacetyl is an artificial flavouring agent, known to cause bronchiolitis obliterans. Diacetyl-induced pulmonary effects were assessed in human primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC) cultured at air-liquid interface (ALI). The PBEC-ALI models were exposed to clean air (sham) and diacetyl vapour (1, 3, 10 and 30 ppm) for 30 min. At 6 and 24 h post...

Rationale: Exposure to biomass smoke (BMS) has been implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). About 3 billion people worldwide use biomass fuel for cooking and heating. Women in rural communities of low- and lower-middle-income countries are disproportionately exposed to massive amounts of BMS during active cooking hours (4-6 h/d...

Background Diesel exhaust particles (DEP) are a major component of outdoor air pollution. DEP mediated pulmonary effects are plausibly linked to inflammatory and oxidative stress response in which macrophages (MQ), epithelial cells and their cell-cell interaction plays a crucial role. Therefore, in this study we aimed at studying the cellular cross...

Air pollution leads to inhalation of several pulmonary stimulants that includes particulate matter (PM), and gaseous substances contributing significantly to the development of chronic lung diseases. However, the pathophysiological mechanism of air pollutant mediated pulmonary toxicity remains unclear. This is primarily due to the lack of efficient...

The cytotoxicity of aldehydes was studied using human primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBEC) cultured at the air-liquid interface (ALI) or under submerged conditions. PBEC were exposed for 30min via the air phase to acrolein (0.1–1mg/m³), crotonaldehyde (1.5–15mg/m³) or hexanal (22–221mg/m³) or under submerged conditions to acrolein (0.1 and 0.2...

Background Failure to attain peak lung function by early adulthood is a risk factor for chronic lung diseases. Previously, we reported that C3H/HeJ mice have about twice total lung capacity (TLC) compared to JF1/MsJ mice. We identified seven lung function quantitative trait loci (QTL: Lfnq1-Lfnq7) in backcross/intercross mice derived from these inb...

Background The death toll associated with inhaled ambient particulate matter (PM) is attributed mainly to cardio-vascular rather than pulmonary effects. However, it is unclear whether the key event for cardiovascular impairment is particle translocation from lung to circulation (direct effect) or indirect effects due to pulmonary particle-cell inte...

Background and aims: Studies suggest that Gentiana lutea (GL), and its component isovitexin, may exhibit anti-atherosclerotic properties. In this study we sought to investigate the protective mechanism of GL aqueous root extract and isovitexin on endothelial inflammation, smooth muscle cell migation, and on the onset and progression of atheroscler...

Optimized nutrition through supplementation of diet with plant derived phytochemicals has attracted significant attention to prevent the onset of many chronic diseases including cardiovascular impairments, cancer, and metabolic disorder. These phytonutrients alone or in combination with others are believed to impart beneficial effects and play pivo...

Application of nanotechnology has significantly increased in different spheres of life including the drug delivery systems and is being considered to be the technology for near future. The plausibility of non-invasive administration of drug via inhalation and avoidance of first-pass metabolism due to direct delivery at the affected site makes respi...

Increased ambient particulate matter (PM) has been associated with various cardio-respiratory disorders and emergency room visits due to short-term and long-term exposures. However, most of the efforts correlating PM exposure with human health hazards have primarily focused on cardiovascular impairments, although the lung acts as the primary port o...

Studies provide compelling evidences for particulate matter (PM) associated cardiovascular health effects. Elderly individuals, particularly those with preexisting conditions like hypertension are regarded to be vulnerable. Experimental data are warranted to reveal the molecular pathomechanism of PM related cardiovascular impairments among aged/pre...

Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (Spp1) is located within quantitative trait loci associated with lung function that was previously identified by contrasting C3H/HeJ and JF1/Msf mouse strains that have extremely divergent lung function. JF1/Msf mice with diminished lung function had reduced lung SPP1 transcript and protein during the peak stage of alveolo...

In this study, a genetically-diverse panel of 43 mouse strains was exposed to phosgene and genome-wide association mapping performed employing a high density SNP assembly. Transcriptomic analysis was also used to improve the genetic resolution in the identification of genetic determinants of phosgene-induced acute lung injury. We prioritized the id...

Background: Rats are frequently used to study the pharmacological and toxicological effects of inhaled aerosol particles. The deposition behavior of aerosol particles in airways is affected by their hygroscopic properties, which accordingly influence the results of such studies. Method: A recently published nonhygroscopic aerosol particle deposi...

The genetic basis for the underlying individual susceptibility to chlorine-induced acute lung injury is unknown. To uncover the genetic basis and pathophysiological processes that could provide additional homeostatic capacities during lung injury, 40 inbred murine strains were exposed to chlorine, and haplotype association mapping was performed. Th...

This investigation sought to better understand the metabolic role of the lung and to generate insights into the pathogenesis of acrolein-induced acute lung injury. A respiratory irritant, acrolein is generated by overheating cooking oils or by domestic cooking using biomass fuels, and is in environmental tobacco smoke, a health hazard in the restau...

Declined lung function is a risk factor for particulate matter associated respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Carbon nanoparticles (CNP) are a prominent component of outdoor air pollution that causes pulmonary toxicity mainly through inflammation. Recently we demonstrated that mice (C3H/HeJ) with highe...

IntroductionANSPM-Mediated Effects on the ANSConclusions References

Inhalation of fine particulate matter (<2.5 μm; fine PM) has been shown to increase the risk for cardiovascular events. In this letter, we reappraise the role of tissue factor (TF) antigen and we also summarize changes in measured coagulation proteins in humans and rodents by other studies with fine PM. By considering all studies including ours, we...

Rationale: Several epidemiological studies associated exposure to increased levels of particulate matter in Augsburg, Germany with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. To elucidate the mechanisms of cardiovascular impairments we investigated the cardiopulmonary responses in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), a model for human cardiovascular...

Carbonaceous nanoparticles possess an emerging source of human exposure due to the massive release of combustion products and the ongoing revolution in nanotechnology. Pulmonary inflammation caused by deposited nanoparticles is central for their adverse health effects. Epidemiological studies suggest that individuals with favourable lung physiology...

Exposure to particulate matter is a risk factor for cardiopulmonary disease but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study we sought to investigate the cardiopulmonary responses on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) following inhalation of UfCPs (24 h, 172 mug.m-3), to assess whether compromised animals (...

Ethylene glycol (EG) is a widely used liquid. Limited data are published regarding inhaled EG and no data regarding transdermal EG uptake in humans. In order to gain information on the quantitative fate of EG, four male volunteers inhaled between 1340 and 1610 micromol vaporous 13C-labeled EG (13C2-EG) for 4h. Separately, three of these subjects we...

Ethylenglykol (EG) ist eine weit verbreitete Industriechemikalie, die unter anderem als Frostschutzmittel und zur Produktion von Polyestern verwendet wird. Die embryo- und nephrotoxische Wirkung von EG wird auf seine Metaboliten Glykolsäure (GA) und Oxalsäure (OA) zurückgeführt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit inhalierten zwei gesunde, männliche Proband...