Research progress on effects of airborne particulate matters and constituents on kidney

The health damage of airborne particulate matters (PM) has become a popular research topic, and its direct adverse effect on cardiopulmonary system has been well recognized. As the research goes deeper, scientists have refocused towards other target organs, especially the kidney. However, the effects and mechanisms of PM and its constituents on the kidney have not been elaborated. From the perspective of whole PM and its constituents, the associations with kidney damage were summarized from epidemiological and toxicological studies, and then the studied potential mechanisms such as oxidative stress and inflammation, DNA damage, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and cell autophagy through which PM induce kidney damage were reviewed.