BACKGROUND Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are fibre-like nanomaterials whose structural similarity to asbestos has raised concerns that they may also pose a mesothelioma hazard. The objective of this study was to examine the inflammatory potential of three CNT samples of differing length on the lungs and pleural cavity following introduction into the airspaces of mice. RESULTS Aspiration of the two short/tangled and one long CNT sample into the lungs of mice resulted in a length-dependent inflammatory response at 1 week, i.e., only the long CNT sample caused acute neutrophilic inflammation in bronchoalveolar lavage at 1 week and progressive thickening of the alveolar septa. The authors also report length-dependent inflammatory responses in the pleural lavage after exposure only to the long CNT. The inflammatory response in the pleural cavity to long fibres and the appearance of lesions along the chest wall and diaphragm was not present at 1 week and only evident by 6 weeks post-exposure. CONCLUSION Length-dependent pathogenicity is a feature of asbestos and the results presented in this study demonstrate similar length-dependent pathogenicity of CNT in the lungs and pleural space following airspace deposition. The data support the contention that long CNT reach the pleura from the airspaces, and that they are retained at the parietal pleura and cause inflammation and lesion development. The parietal pleura is the site of origin of mesothelioma and inflammation is considered to be a process involved in asbestos carcinogenesis and so the data support the contention that CNT may pose an asbestos-like mesothelioma hazard.

中文翻译：

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碳纳米管在小鼠肺腔中沉积后的长度依赖性胸膜炎症和壁层胸膜反应。

背景技术碳纳米管(CNT)是纤维状纳米材料，其结构与石棉相似，引起了人们对它们也可能造成间皮瘤危害的担忧。本研究的目的是检查三种不同长度的 CNT 样品在引入小鼠气腔后对肺部和胸膜腔的炎症潜力。结果 将两个短/缠结和一个长的 CNT 样本吸入小鼠肺部导致 1 周时出现长度依赖性炎症反应，即只有长 CNT 样本在 1 周时引起支气管肺泡灌洗液中的急性中性粒细胞炎症并逐渐增厚的肺泡间隔。作者还报告了仅暴露于长 CNT 后胸腔灌洗液中的长度依赖性炎症反应。胸膜腔对长纤维的炎症反应以及沿胸壁和膈肌出现的病变在 1 周时不存在，仅在暴露后 6 周时才明显。结论 与长度相关的致病性是石棉的一个特征，本研究中的结果表明 CNT 在肺和胸膜腔中的气腔沉积后具有相似的长度相关致病性。数据支持长碳纳米管从空域到达胸膜，滞留在壁层胸膜并引起炎症和病变发展的论点。壁层胸膜是间皮瘤的起源部位，炎症被认为是参与石棉致癌的一个过程，因此数据支持 CNT 可能构成石棉样间皮瘤危害的论点。