title: Inflammatory markers in relation to long-term air pollution.
abstract: Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution can lead to chronic health effects such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Systemic inflammation has been hypothesized as a putative biological mechanism contributing to these adverse health effects. We evaluated the effect of long-term exposure to air pollution on blood markers of systemic inflammation. We measured a panel of 28 inflammatory markers in peripheral blood samples from 587 individuals that were biobanked as part of a prospective study. Participants were from Varese and Turin (Italy) and Umea (Sweden). Long-term air pollution estimates of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were available from the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). Linear mixed models adjusted for potential confounders were applied to assess the association between NOx and the markers of inflammation. Long-term exposure to NOx was associated with decreased levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-8, IL-10 and tumor necrosis factor-α in Italy, but not in Sweden. NOx exposure levels were considerably lower in Sweden than in Italy (Sweden: median (5th, 95th percentiles) 6.65 μg/m(3) (4.8, 19.7); Italy: median (5th, 95th percentiles) 94.2 μg/m(3) (7.8, 124.5)). Combining data from Italy and Sweden we only observed a significant association between long-term exposure to NOx and decreased levels of circulating IL-8. We observed some indication for perturbations in the inflammatory markers due to long-term exposure to NOx. Effects were stronger in Italy than in Sweden, potentially reflecting the difference in air pollution levels between the two cohorts.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: n.s.mostafavimontazeri@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Nahid
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.j.Vlaanderen@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Jelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vlaanderen
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: m.chadeau@imperial.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chadeau-Hyam
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.m.j.beelen@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beelen
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: lars.modig@umu.se.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Modig
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute (ISPO), Florence, Italy. Electronic address: d.palli@ispo.toscana.it.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Palli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Biobank Research, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: ingvar.bergdahl@umu.se.
authors.forename: Ingvar A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Bergdahl
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council-Health Protection Agency Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom; HuGeF Foundation, Turin, Italy. Electronic address: p.vineis@imperial.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vineis
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: g.hoek@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hoek
authors.affiliation: National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Biology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Biotechnology, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: skyrt@eie.gr.
authors.forename: Soterios Α
authors.initials: SΑ
authors.lastname: Kyrtopoulos
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.c.h.vermeulen@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vermeulen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides
keywords: Air pollution; Chronic health effects; Gene expression; Inflammatory markers