Exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is linked to vasoconstriction, endothelial dysfunction, and myocardial ischemia in compromised individuals. The researchers hypothesized that DE inhalation would cause greater inflammation, hematologic alterations, and cardiac molecular impairment in spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats than in healthy Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats.

Environmental air pollutants are inhaled as complex mixtures, but the long dominant focus of monitoring and research on individual pollutants has provided modest insight into pollutant interactions that may be important to health.