Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and serum liver enzymes in older adults: a population-based longitudinal study

• Published in: Annals of epidemiology 2022-10, Vol.74, p.1-7
• Main Authors: Li, Yingxin, Yuan, Xueli, Wei, Jing, Sun, Yuanying, Ni, Wenqing, Zhang, Hongmin, Zhang, Yan, Wang, Rui, Xu, Ruijun, Liu, Tingting, Yang, Chunyu, Chen, Gongbo, Xu, Jian, Liu, Yuewei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Air Pollution - analysis; Alanine aminotransferase; Alanine Transaminase; Ambient air pollution; Aspartate aminotransferase; Aspartate Aminotransferases; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; Carbon Monoxide; CHAP, ChinaHighAirPollutants; CI, confidence interval; CO, carbon monoxide; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental Exposure - analysis; FBG, fasting blood glucose; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Humans; IQR, interquartile range; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; Liver; Liver enzymes; Longitudinal Studies; Nitrogen Dioxide - adverse effects; Nitrogen Dioxide - analysis; NO2, nitrogen dioxide; O3, ozone; Older adults Abbreviations: ALT, alanine aminotransferase; OR, odds ratio; Ozone - adverse effects; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; Particulate Matter - analysis; PM10, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm; PM2.5, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm; SD, standardized deviation; SO2, sulfur dioxide; Sulfur Dioxide - adverse effects; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; WC, waist circumference
• ISSN: 1047-2797; 1873-2585
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2022.05.011

: To investigate the association of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution with serum liver enzymes in older adults. : In this longitudinal study, we investigated 318,911 adults aged ≥65 years and assessed their long-term residential exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3). Linear mixed models and generalized linear mixed models were implemented for exposure-response analyses. : Each interquartile range (IQR) increase of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 exposures was significantly associated with a 4.6%, 4.6%, 5.6%, 4.6%, 6.2%, and 3.6% increase in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and a 4.6%, 5.2%, 3.6%, 3.3%, 6.1%, and 4.0% increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), respectively. Each IQR increase of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 exposures was significantly associated with a 23%, 24%, 28%, 17%, 31%, and 19% increase in odds of elevated ALT (>40 U/L), and a 32%, 39%, 40%, 32%, 57%, and 25% increase in odds of elevated AST (>40 U/L), respectively. : Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution was significantly associated with increased serum liver enzyme levels in older adults, suggesting that air pollution exposures may induce hepatocellular injury.