BOARD MEETING DATE: June 4, 2010
AGENDA NO. 12

PROPOSAL:

Amend Contract to Conduct an Additional Research Project under the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium

SYNOPSIS:

At the November 7, 2003 meeting, the Board authorized a contract with UCLA to manage the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium, and approved the execution of several research projects under the Consortium. This action is to request a no-cost contract extension and a revision to the scope of work to add the project "Use of an Oxidant-Sensitive Murine Model for Studying the Adjuvant Effect of Ambient Particulate Matter to Discern between Different Diesel Exhaust Particles that have been Typed Up for Oxidant Potential."

COMMITTEE:

Technology, May 21, 2010, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Authorize the Chairman to amend the contract agreement with UCLA to authorize a no-cost contract extension and a revision to the scope of work to add the project “Use of an Oxidant-Sensitive Murine Model for Studying the Adjuvant Effect of Ambient Particulate Matter to Discern between Different Diesel Exhaust Particles that have been Typed Up for Oxidant Potential.”
 

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

At the February 2003 meeting, the Board approved the establishment of the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium, approved a workplan, and directed 10 percent of FY 2002-03 penalty revenue—approximately $723,000—to fund the consortium for research projects relating to asthma and outdoor air quality.

At the November 7, 2003 Board meeting, the Board authorized a contract with UCLA to manage the Consortium and to administer the execution of several research projects.

One of the original projects, “Mechanisms of Particulate Toxicity - Use of Proteomics to Develop Markers for Oxidative Stress in Asthma Using Ozone and Artificial PM Exposures” – has not been completed. This was a joint project between UCLA and UC San Francisco. The Institutional Review Boards at the two universities, however, could not agree on a protocol for including human subjects in the research projects. As a result, the UCLA portion of the project was not completed. This request is to apply the unspent funds previously approved by the Governing Board toward a new research project within the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium.

Proposal

The goal of this project is to determine whether the oxidant potential of diesel exhaust particulate (DEP) plays a key role in interfering with secondary immune response. Past research shows that ambient particulate matter (PM) exposure is a contributing factor for increased respiratory morbidity and mortality in urban environment including asthma. A large body of evidence from both human and animal studies suggests that PM may promote asthma through its adjuvant (or promoting) effect on allergic sensitization. Previous work on PM characterization indicates that the organic chemical fraction, including chemical groups such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and quinones, play an important role in mediating the biological effect of PM through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the induction of oxidative stress in mucosal immune cells. This has led to the hypothesis that the oxidant potential of PM plays an important role in promoting some of the adverse health effects including exacerbation of allergic disease such as asthma.

The researchers for this project propose to conduct studies in laboratory animals to assess the adjuvant effect of the seven DEP collections from EPA and to determine whether there are differences in the adjuvant effect among the DEP samples due to the differences in their chemical composition, including PAH content, and oxidant potential. Based on the results, experiments using different doses and number of pulmonary instillations in laboratory animals will be conducted.

The proposal was reviewed by three air pollution health effects experts from other academic institutions, and received highly favorable recommendations.

The total cost of this proposed project will not exceed $73,702, which has already been allocated to this contract. 

Resource Impacts

Funds for this project are available from a previously approved contract to UCLA for the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium (Fund 42).