- 1 - 0221 TITLE : Biomarkers for Pulmonary Injury Following Deployment

The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy or decision unless so designated by other documentation. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. To understand the risks of lung disease faced by soldiers, USACEHR has studied a rat model of lung disease after instillation of dust or silica. After exposure, lung pathology was measured and we identified the proteins and microRNAs that were released into the lung lavage fluid at different times after exposure so that the markers could be correlated with the observed pathology. In this model silica affected the lung more than dust from Iraq, and we reported the proteins and microRNAs we found in lavage fluid after either treatment. The candidate biomarkers we found came from lavage fluid which is relatively accessible. The markers we found can now be compared to markers from human clinical specimens. This work is underway via a collaboration with the STAMPEDE project at BAMC.