Association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and biomarkers indicative of inflammation and oxidative stress: a cross-sectional study using KoGES-HEXA data

Abstract

Background: Air pollution-induced systemic inflammation and oxidative stress are hypothesized to be the major biological mechanisms underlying pathological outcomes. We examined the association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in 2199 general middle-aged Korean population residing in metropolitan areas. Methods: Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α) and urinary levels of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were measured. Daily concentrations of a series of air pollutants (particulate matter [PM]10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) were predicted using the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system, and participant-level pollutant exposure was determined using geocoded residential addresses. Short-term exposure was defined as the 1- to 7-day moving averages. Results: The multivariable-adjusted linear models controlling for the sociodemographic, lifestyle, temporal, and meteorological factors identified positive associations of PM with IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, and 8-OHdG levels; SO2 with IL-10 levels, CO with IL-1β, IL-10, and TNF-α levels; and O3 with IL-1β, IL-8, and 8-OHdG levels. O3 levels were inversely associated with IL-10 levels. For each pollutant, the strongest associations were observed for the 7-day average PM and CO with IL-1β (per 10-µg/m3 increase in PM10: 2.7%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.6–4.8; per 10-µg/m3 increase in PM2.5: 6.4%, 95% CI = 2.4–10.5; per 0.1-ppm increase in CO: 3.3%, 95% CI = 0.3–6.5); the 2-day average SO2 with IL-10 levels (per 1-ppb increase in SO2: 1.1%, 95% CI = 0.1–2.1); and the 7-day average O3 with IL-8 levels (per 1-ppb increase in O3: 1.3%, 95% CI = 0.7–1.9). Conclusions: Short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants may induce oxidative damage and pro-inflammatory roles, together with counter-regulatory anti-inflammatory response.

Keywords

• air pollutants
• biomarkers
• inflammation
• oxidative stress
• middle-aged adults
• korea