Apoptosis is an important cell death mechanism for the resolution of inflammation. Neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis rates were reported to be slightly different in men and women and to be modulated by female sex hormones. The aim of this study was to determine whether different nanoparticles (NPs) will alter the neutrophil and eosinophil apoptotic rates differently in men and women. Using the antiapoptotic cytokine granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the proapoptotic plant lectin Viscum album agglutinin-I (VAA-I) as controls, we found that these factors respectively delay and induce apoptosis in both neutrophils and eosinophils with apoptotic rates remarkably similar in both sexes. The polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers of generation 0 (G0) and G3 slightly, but not significantly, accelerate neutrophil apoptosis regardless of sex. Zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO₂), cerium dioxide (CeO₂), and palladium (Pd) but not platinum (Pt) NPs were found to significantly delay neutrophil apoptosis. When results were compared between men and women, only ZnO and Pd NPs were found to significantly delay neutrophil apoptosis in men while ZnO, TiO₂, CeO₂, and Pt NPs inhibit apoptosis in women neutrophils. In eosinophils, G3, but not G0 NPs, significantly accelerate apoptosis in women. ZnO, Pt, and Pd NPs significantly delay eosinophil apoptosis but only in women. Unlike neutrophils, TiO₂ and CeO₂ NPs did not significantly delay eosinophil apoptosis. We propose that future studies aiming at determining potential effect NPs on cellular biological processes should incorporate a sex-based analysis based on the differences reported here studying the impact of NPs on human granulocyte apoptosis.

细胞凋亡是炎症消退的重要细胞死亡机制。据报道，男性和女性的中性粒细胞自发凋亡率略有不同，并受女性性激素的调节。本研究的目的是确定不同的纳米颗粒 (NPs) 是否会以不同的方式改变男性和女性的中性粒细胞和嗜酸性粒细胞凋亡率。使用抗凋亡细胞因子粒细胞 - 巨噬细胞集落刺激因子 (GM-CSF) 和促凋亡植物凝集素Viscum album凝集素-I (VAA-I) 作为对照，我们发现这些因子分别延迟和诱导中性粒细胞和嗜酸性粒细胞凋亡，且两性中的凋亡率非常相似。第 0 代 (G0) 和 G3 的聚酰胺胺 (PAMAM) 树枝状大分子略微但不显着加速中性粒细胞凋亡，而与性别无关。发现氧化锌 (ZnO)、二氧化钛 (TiO ₂ )、二氧化铈 (CeO ₂ ) 和钯 (Pd) 而不是铂 (Pt) NPs 显着延迟中性粒细胞凋亡。比较男性和女性的结果，发现只有 ZnO 和 Pd NPs 显着延迟男性中性粒细胞凋亡，而 ZnO、TiO ₂、CeO ₂和 Pt NPs 抑制女性中性粒细胞的凋亡。在嗜酸性粒细胞中，G3 而非 G0 NPs 显着加速了女性的细胞凋亡。ZnO、Pt 和 Pd NPs 显着延迟嗜酸性粒细胞凋亡，但仅限于女性。与中性粒细胞不同，TiO ₂和CeO ₂ NPs 没有显着延迟嗜酸性粒细胞凋亡。我们建议，未来旨在确定 NPs 对细胞生物学过程的潜在影响的研究应结合基于性别的分析，该分析基于此处报道的差异，研究 NPs 对人类粒细胞凋亡的影响。