Abstract

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations have decreased in the past decade. The adverse effects of acute PM2.5 exposure on respiratory diseases have been well recognized. To explore the long-term effects of PM2.5 exposure on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), mice were exposed to PM2.5 for 7 days and rest for 21 days, followed by challenges with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE). Unexpectedly, PM2.5 exposure and rest alleviated the disease severity and airway inflammatory responses in COPD-like mice. Although acute PM2.5 exposure increased airway inflammation, rest for 21 days reversed the airway inflammatory responses, which was associated with the induction of inhibitory memory alveolar macrophages (AMs). Similarly, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM2.5 exposure and rest decreased pulmonary inflammation, accompanied by inhibitory memory AMs. Once AMs were depleted, pulmonary inflammation was aggravated. PAHs in PM2.5 promoted the secretion of IL-33 from airway epithelial cells via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/ARNT pathway. High-throughput mRNA sequencing revealed that PM2.5 exposure and rest drastically changed the mRNA profiles in AMs, which was largely rescued in IL-33 −/− mice. Collectively, our results indicate that PM2.5 may mitigate pulmonary inflammation, which is mediated by inhibitory trained AMs via IL-33 production from epithelial cells through the AhR/ARNT pathway. We provide the rationale that PM2.5 plays complicated roles in respiratory disease.