Indoor air pollution: impact on health and stem cells.

Abstract

Nearly 2 million people annually die prematurely from various illness contributed by indoor air pollutants (IAP). Such pollutants affect the lungs leading to diseases ranging from bronchial diseases to malignant lung cancer. Stem cells (SC) with the property of self-renewal, pluripotency, and capability of homing into tumors and metastases, have been reported to be promising in treatment of lung cancer. In this review, we have tried to understand the role of components of IAP affect the SC. Although very few studies have been conducted in these lines, existing reports suggest that IAP causes damage to stem cells and their niches thereby reducing successful chances of autologous stem cell transplantation and therapy. The mechanism by which components of IAP affects the functioning of stem cells thus conferring toxicity remains unexplored. The future scope of this review lies in revealing answer to underlying questions of repair and modulation of stem cells in therapeutic treatment of lung diseases.