Cytoprotective effect of chloroquine against metal(loid)s and PM 2.5 toxicity in the A549 lung cell line

The airborne particulate matter (PM) is associated with acute and/or chronic health adverse effects. Metal(loid)s are the main chemical species present in the PM and they can induce oxidative stress (OxS) and cytotoxicity. For this reason, the present study explores a possible alternative to prevent this problem through pharmacological treatments. Chloroquine (CQ) is an antimalarial drug used also as a chemo-, radio-sensitizing, and anti-inflammatory. This work evaluates the effect of individual metal(loid)s founded in PM 2.5 and the complete PM 2.5 , and the CQ cytoprotective effect to these in the A549 lung cell line. Cell viability was evaluated using the MTT assay, the OxS was evaluated by measuring the biochemical assay to glutathione S-transferase (GST), malondialdehyde (MDA), Advanced Oxidation Protein Products (AOPP), and the expression of the surfactant protein SPD by Western blot. Based on the composition of PM 2.5 reported to Toluca Valley, State of Mexico (2017-2018), eight metals were established. The non-cytotoxic concentration of CQ was chosen to evaluate cytoprotective activity to metal(loid)s or PM 2.5 exposures. Simultaneous exposure to CQ-metal(loid)s and CQ-PM 2.5 , in addition to CQ pretreatment before PM 2.5 treatment at 24 h were tested. Data of CQ/metal(loid)s exposure showed that CQ favors cell viability independently of the metal(loid). However, OxS biomarkers suggest damage with differential response metal(loid)-dependent. There are differences between simultaneous and pretreatment with CQ. CQ has a cytoprotective effect towards metal(loid) on cell viability mainly due to GST and surfactant proteins induction; but is not enough to reduce lipoperoxidation, this effect is reproducible to PM 2.5 treatment.