Does the oxidative stress play a role in the associations between outdoor air pollution and persistent asthma in adults? Findings from the EGEA study

• Published in: Environmental health 2019-10, Vol.18 (1), p.90-90, Article 90
• Main Authors: Havet, Anaïs, Li, Zhen, Zerimech, Farid, Sanchez, Margaux, Siroux, Valérie, Le Moual, Nicole, Brunekreef, Bert, Künzli, Nino, Jacquemin, Bénédicte, Varraso, Raphaëlle, Matran, Régis, Nadif, Rachel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Air Pollutants; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollution; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Asthma; Asthma - chemically induced; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthmatic persons; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Case-Control Studies; Chronic Disease; Chronic Disease - epidemiology; Environmental aspects; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Epidemiology; Female; Fluorescent oxidation products; Follow-Up Studies; France; France - epidemiology; Genetic research; Health aspects; Human health and pathology; Humans; Life Sciences; Male; Mediation; Mediation analysis; Middle Aged; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen oxides; Outdoor air pollution; Oxidation-reduction reactions; Oxidative Stress; Oxides; Persistent asthma; Pollution; Pulmonology and respiratory tract; Risk factors; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Traffic engineering; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1476-069X; 1476-069X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12940-019-0532-0

Evidences that oxidative stress plays a role in the associations between outdoor air pollution and asthma are growing. We aimed to study the role of plasma fluorescent oxidation products levels (FlOPs; an oxidative stress-related biomarker), as potential mediators, in the associations between outdoor air pollution and persistent asthma. Analyses were conducted in 204 adult asthmatics followed up in the French case-control and family study on asthma (EGEA; the Epidemiological study of the Genetic and Environmental factors of Asthma). Persistent asthma was defined as having current asthma at EGEA2 (baseline, 2003-2007) and EGEA3 (follow-up, 2011-2013). Exposures to nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, road traffic, particulate matter with a diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM ) and ≤ 2.5 μm were estimated by ESCAPE models (2009-2010), and ozone (O ) by IFEN models (2004). We used a mediation analysis to assess the mediated effect by FlOPs levels and the interaction between FlOPs levels and air pollution. FlOPs levels increased with PM and O (adjusted β = 0.04 (95%CI 0.001-0.08), aβ = 0.04 (95%CI 0.009-0.07) per 10 μg/m , respectively), and the risk of persistent asthma increased with FlOPs levels (aOR = 1.81 (95%CI 1.08-3.02)). The risk of persistent asthma decreased with exposures to NO , NOx and PM (aOR ranging from 0.62 to 0.94), and increased with exposures to PM , O , O and road traffic, the greater effect being observed for O (aOR = 1.78, 95% CI 0.73-4.37, per 10 μg/m ). Using mediation analysis, we observed a positive total effect (aOR = 2.16, 95%CI 0.70-11.9), a positive direct effect of O on persistent asthma (OR = 1.68, 95%CI 0.57-7.25), and a positive indirect effect mediated by FIOPs levels (aOR = 1.28 (95%CI 1.01-2.29)) accounting for 41% of the total effect. Our results add insights on the role of oxidative stress in the association between air pollution and persistent asthma.