Association between exhaled breath condensate nitrate + nitrite levels with ambient coarse particle exposure in subjects with airways disease

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) England), 2012-09, Vol.69 (9), p.663-669
• Main Authors: Manney, Sarah, Meddings, C M, Harrison, R M, Mansur, A H, Karakatsani, A, Analitis, A, Katsouyanni, Klea, Perifanou, D, Kavouras, I G, Kotronarou, N, de Hartog, J J, Pekkanen, J, Hämeri, K, ten Brink, Harry, Hoek, Gerard, Ayres, Jon G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Air; Air Pollutants - adverse effects; Air Pollution; Air Pollution, Indoor; allergy; Asthma; Asthma - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; biological monitoring; Biomarkers - metabolism; Breath tests; cardiovascular; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cities; clinical medicine; COPD; disease; disease type; Environment; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental pollutants toxicology; environmental tobacco smoke; epidemiology; Europe; exhaled breath condensate; Exposure; exposure assessment; exposure monitoring; exposures and occupational groups; Female; general expertise; Humans; Inflammation; Inflammation - etiology; longitudinal studies; Lung - drug effects; Lung - metabolism; Lung diseases; lung function; Lungs; Male; materials; Medical sciences; meta-analysis; methodology; Middle Aged; mortality studies; Nitrates; Nitrates - metabolism; Nitrites; Nitrites - metabolism; Nitrogen Oxides - metabolism; noise; occupational asthma; organ system; Outdoor air quality; Oxidative Stress; particle number concentration; Particle Size; Particulate matter; Particulate Matter - adverse effects; PM10-PM2.5-ultrafine; Pollutants; public health; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - metabolism; Respiration; respiratory; Respiratory Tract Diseases - metabolism; specialty; statistics; Steroids - pharmacology; time series study; Toxicology
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2011-100255

ObjectivesStudies of individual inflammatory responses to exposure to air pollution are few but are important in defining the most sensitive markers in better understanding pathophysiological pathways in the lung. The goal of this study was to assess whether exposure to airborne particles is associated with oxidative stress in an epidemiological setting.MethodsThe authors assessed exposure to particulate matter air pollution in four European cities in relation to levels of nitrite plus nitrate (NOx) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) measurements in 133 subjects with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using an EBC capture method developed for field use. In each subject, three measurements were collected. Exposure measurements included particles smaller than 10 μm (PM10), smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and particle number counts at a central site, outdoors near the subject's home and indoors.ResultsThere were positive and significant relationships between EBC NOx and coarse particles at the central sampling sites (increase of 20.4% (95% CI 6.1% to 36.6%) per 10 μg/m3 increase of coarse particles of the previous day) but not between EBC NOx and other particle measures. Associations tended to be stronger in subjects not taking steroid medication.ConclusionsAn association was found between exposure to ambient coarse particles at central sites and EBC NOx, a marker of oxidative stress. The lack of association between PM measures more indicative of personal exposures (particularly indoor exposure) means interpretation should be cautious. However, EBC NOx may prove to be a marker of PM-induced oxidative stress in epidemiological studies.