Young talent award for research into the health effects of Saharan dust
Who hasn’t experienced it, the annoying desert dust that settles on cars from time to time?
Gerrit Bredeck was awarded the Rudolf Buchheim Prize of the German Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT) for his work on the health effects of Saharan dust. He conducted his research as doctoral student in the working group of Dr. Roel Schins at the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine and is doing his doctorate at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. The prize was presented at the annual meeting of the DGPT on March 14, 2024 in Munich.
Who hasn’t experienced it, the annoying desert dust that settles on cars from time to time? The current desertification trends, also driven by climate change, are raising concerns about its impact on global air quality. But what about the actual health effects? Various studies show that respiratory diseases occur more frequently during desert dust episodes. At a molecular level, inflammatory processes and oxidative stress have been identified in this context. It has also been suggested that the multiprotein complex NLRP3 is involved in the activation of inflammatory reactions.
Desert dust can originate from different regions and, in addition to quartz, consists of (traces of) various metals, sulphates, silica, as well as microbial components (e.g. endotoxins). Furthermore, it may pick up other components along the way. More than 50 percent of the world’s desert dust comes from the Sahara. Nevertheless, there are only a few studies on the health hazards of Saharan dust. This is where the research project DUSTRISK comes into play, which is being carried out jointly by several Leibniz institutes and partners from Cabo Verde, where the dust was also collected. Within this project, two studies were published in the scientific journals Environment International and Particle and Fibre Toxicology, for which Gerrit Bredeck, PhD student in the working group of Dr. Roel Schins at the IUF - Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, has now been honored by the DGPT as first author. In addition to the increasing importance of Saharan dust, his work was chosen because it provides insights into the mechanisms of the inflammatory response that Saharan dust triggers. Thus, he contributes to toxicology and builds a bridge from experimental to clinical research, as the mechanisms are highly relevant to lung diseases.
In the first study liquid cell cultures with individual cell types (lung and immune cells), to which the Saharan dust was added, were investigated. For the second study, a model of both cell types was established at the air-liquid interface. This allowed a more realistic exposure: the cells form a surface film of surfactants and can be exposed to the dust from the air. In addition, the two cell types can interact. The studies show that the microbial components of Saharan dust contribute to its damaging effect on the cells. Inflammation-promoting molecular messengers, so-called cytokines, are upregulated. The reactions are mediated via the NLRP3-caspase-1-IL-1β axis, which will be the subject of further research. “I am delighted to receive the DGPT award and would like to thank everyone who has supported me in my work,” says award winner Gerrit Bredeck. “As Saharan dust cannot be regulated, we would like to contribute to improving risk assessment and identifying strategies for health protection.”
Original publication
Gerrit Bredeck, Mathias Busch, Andrea Rossi, Burkhard Stahlmecke, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Hartmut Herrmann, Roel P.F. Schins; "Inhalable Saharan dust induces oxidative stress, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and inflammatory cytokine release"; Environment International, Volume 172
Gerrit Bredeck, Jochen Dobner, Burkhard Stahlmecke, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Hartmut Herrmann, Andrea Rossi, Roel P. F. Schins; "Saharan dust induces NLRP3-dependent inflammatory cytokines in an alveolar air-liquid interface co-culture model"; Particle and Fibre Toxicology, Volume 20, 2023-10-20
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