Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study
Higher air pollution exposure and shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) are both associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and share plausible mechanisms, including inflammation. LTL may serve as a biomarker of air pollution exposure and may be intervened with to reduce the r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Toxics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/11/6/489 |
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| author | Chia-Ling Kuo Rui Liu Lucas da Cunha Godoy Luke C. Pilling Richard H. Fortinsky Doug Brugge |
| author_facet | Chia-Ling Kuo Rui Liu Lucas da Cunha Godoy Luke C. Pilling Richard H. Fortinsky Doug Brugge |
| author_sort | Chia-Ling Kuo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Higher air pollution exposure and shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) are both associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and share plausible mechanisms, including inflammation. LTL may serve as a biomarker of air pollution exposure and may be intervened with to reduce the risk of CHD. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to test the mediation effect of LTL in the relationship between air pollution exposure and incident CHD. Using the UK Biobank (UKB) data (<i>n</i> = 317,601), we conducted a prospective study linking residential air pollution exposure (PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub>) and LTL to incident CHD during a mean follow-up of 12.6 years. Cox proportional hazards models and generalized additive models with penalized spline functions were used to model the associations of pollutant concentrations and LTL with incident CHD. We found non-linear associations of air pollution exposure with LTL and CHD. Pollutant concentrations in the lower range were decreasingly associated with longer LTL and reduced risk of CHD. The associations between lower pollutant concentrations and reduced risk of CHD, however, were minimally mediated by LTL (<3%). Our findings suggest that air pollution influences CHD through pathways that do not involve LTL. Replication is needed with improved measurements of air pollution that more accurately assesses personal exposure. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:51:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-467326fd30eb446bbd4b46f69d4eba8d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2305-6304 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:51:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Toxics |
| spelling | doaj.art-467326fd30eb446bbd4b46f69d4eba8d2023-11-18T12:54:19ZengMDPI AGToxics2305-63042023-05-0111648910.3390/toxics11060489Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank StudyChia-Ling Kuo0Rui Liu1Lucas da Cunha Godoy2Luke C. Pilling3Richard H. Fortinsky4Doug Brugge5The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USADepartment of Health Sciences, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT 06825, USAThe Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USAEpidemiology and Public Health Group, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UKUConn Center on Aging, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06030, USADepartment of Public Health Sciences, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT 06032, USAHigher air pollution exposure and shorter leukocyte telomere length (LTL) are both associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and share plausible mechanisms, including inflammation. LTL may serve as a biomarker of air pollution exposure and may be intervened with to reduce the risk of CHD. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to test the mediation effect of LTL in the relationship between air pollution exposure and incident CHD. Using the UK Biobank (UKB) data (<i>n</i> = 317,601), we conducted a prospective study linking residential air pollution exposure (PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub>) and LTL to incident CHD during a mean follow-up of 12.6 years. Cox proportional hazards models and generalized additive models with penalized spline functions were used to model the associations of pollutant concentrations and LTL with incident CHD. We found non-linear associations of air pollution exposure with LTL and CHD. Pollutant concentrations in the lower range were decreasingly associated with longer LTL and reduced risk of CHD. The associations between lower pollutant concentrations and reduced risk of CHD, however, were minimally mediated by LTL (<3%). Our findings suggest that air pollution influences CHD through pathways that do not involve LTL. Replication is needed with improved measurements of air pollution that more accurately assesses personal exposure.https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/11/6/489PM<sub>2.5</sub>PM<sub>2.5</sub> absorbancePM<sub>10</sub>PM<sub>2.5–10</sub>NO<sub>2</sub>NO<sub>x</sub> |
| spellingShingle | Chia-Ling Kuo Rui Liu Lucas da Cunha Godoy Luke C. Pilling Richard H. Fortinsky Doug Brugge Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study Toxics PM<sub>2.5</sub> PM<sub>2.5</sub> absorbance PM<sub>10</sub> PM<sub>2.5–10</sub> NO<sub>2</sub> NO<sub>x</sub> |
| title | Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study |
| title_full | Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study |
| title_fullStr | Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study |
| title_short | Association between Residential Exposure to Air Pollution and Incident Coronary Heart Disease Is Not Mediated by Leukocyte Telomere Length: A UK Biobank Study |
| title_sort | association between residential exposure to air pollution and incident coronary heart disease is not mediated by leukocyte telomere length a uk biobank study |
| topic | PM<sub>2.5</sub> PM<sub>2.5</sub> absorbance PM<sub>10</sub> PM<sub>2.5–10</sub> NO<sub>2</sub> NO<sub>x</sub> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/11/6/489 |
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