Airborne Benzo[a]Pyrene may contribute to divergent Pheno-Endotypes in children

• Published in: Environmental health 2021-04, Vol.20 (1), p.40-14, Article 40
• Main Authors: Choi, Hyunok, Dostal, Miroslav, Pastorkova, Anna, Rossner, Jr, Pavel, Sram, Radim J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine - urine; 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine; Adolescent; Age; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air pollution; Allergens; Asthma; Asthma - blood; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthma - physiopathology; Asthma - urine; Asthma in children; Atopy; Benzo(a)pyrene; Benzo(a)pyrene - analysis; Benzopyrene; Biomarkers; Body weight; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cotinine; Cotinine - urine; Czech Republic - epidemiology; Deoxyguanosine; Development and progression; Dinoprost - analogs & derivatives; Dinoprost - blood; Dyspnea; Endotype; 15-Ft2-isoprostane; Environmental aspects; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Environmental health; Etiology; Female; Girls; Health aspects; Humans; Hypotheses; Immunoassay; Indoor air quality; Infant; Lung - physiopathology; Lungs; Lymphocytes T; Male; Outdoor air quality; Overweight; Pediatric research; Phenotype; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Primary care; Public health; Pyrene; Regression models; Respiratory function; Risk factors
• ISSN: 1476-069X; 1476-069X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00711-4

Asthma represents a syndrome for which our understanding of the molecular processes underlying discrete sub-diseases (i.e., endotypes), beyond atopic asthma, is limited. The public health needs to characterize etiology-associated endotype risks is becoming urgent. In particular, the roles of polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), globally distributed combustion by-products, toward the two known endotypes - T helper 2 cell high (Th2) or T helper 2 cell low (non-Th2) - warrants clarification. To explain ambient B[a]P association with non-atopic asthma (i.e., a proxy of non-Th2 endotype) is markedly different from that with atopic asthma (i.e., a proxy for Th2-high endotype). In a case-control study, we compare the non-atopic as well as atopic asthmatic boys and girls against their respective controls in terms of the ambient Benzo[a]pyrene concentration nearest to their home, plasma 15-F -isoprostane (15-F -isoP), urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), and lung function deficit. We repeated the analysis for i) dichotomous asthma outcome and ii) multinomial asthma-overweight/obese (OV/OB) combined outcomes. The non-atopic asthma cases are associated with a significantly higher median B[a]P (11.16 ng/m ) compared to that in the non-atopic controls (3.83 ng/m ; P-value