Natural products ameliorating the adverse health effects by air particulate matter

The threats of air pollution mediated by particulate matter (PM) to human health are severe burdens to modern society. For example, PM is inhaled in the lungs or affects keratinocytes to induce reactive oxygen species that exert oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and genotoxicity. Natural products are rich sources of the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemicals that might counteract what PM does in the human body. This review provides a compilation of knowledge on bioactive natural products that improve the health conditions from PM-induced health outcomes. The natural products were classified according to biosynthetic origins or resources: phenolic compounds including flavonoids and other phenolics, terpenoids, steroids, phytochemicals from marine algae, statins, lipids, alkaloids, and other nitrogen-containing natural products. This review article covers the structures and biological activity of natural products investigated with tissue cells or animal models.