scholarly journals Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity and Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollutants in Metropolitan Areas in the North of Italy

Author(s):  
FRANCESCA INGEGNOLI ◽  
tania ubiali ◽  
tommaso schioppo ◽  
valentina longo ◽  
Antonella Murgo ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1415.1-1415
Author(s):  
F. Ingegnoli ◽  
T. Ubiali ◽  
T. Schioppo ◽  
V. Longo ◽  
S. Iodice ◽  
...  

Background:Air pollution is believed to cause oxidative stress and systemic inflammation, that could trigger autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Several epidemiological studies investigated the possible role of air pollution in the outbreak of RA with controversial results. As far as we know, studies on the effects on disease activity of short-term exposure have not been published.Objectives:To evaluate the impact of short-term exposure to air pollutants (daily mean PM10, PM2.5, NO2and O3) on disease activity in patients with RA.Methods:Consecutive patients with RA (ACR/EULAR Criteria 2010) resident in Lombardy (Italy) were enrolled. In each patient Disease Activity Score on 28 joints (DAS28), Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI) were assessed. Daily PM10, PM2.5, NO2and O3concentrations, estimated by Regional Environmental Protection Agency at municipality resolution, were used to assign short-term exposure from day of visit back to 14 days. Multivariable linear regression models were performed to identify the day of the pollutants independently associated with disease activity indices, adjusting for the variables significant at the univariate analysis. β coefficients were reported for 1 μg/m3increments of pollutants’ concentrations.Results:422 RA patients were enrolled in the study between January and June 2018: 81.5% females, mean age 58.2±13.3 years, mean disease duration 16.1±11.5 years, 27.3% current smokers, 59.5% RF positivity, 54.5% ACPA positivity. Sparse punctual statistically significant negative associations emerged at the multivariate analysis between PM10, PM2.5, NO2and the outcomes, although with very low estimates, whereas positive associations resulted for O3.Afterwards patients were stratified in 3 subgroups according to their ongoing treatment (no therapy, n=25, conventional synthetic Disease Modifying anti-Rheumatic Drugs -DMARDs-, n=108 and biological or targeted synthetic DMARDs, n=289). A statistical significance was found by analysing the influence of therapy on the interaction between PM2.5and DAS28 (Figure below): a positive trend between PM2.5and DAS28 appeared in the first two groups (no therapy, 0.013±0.007, p=0.06 and csDMARDs, 0.006±0.004, p=0.17), whereas a statistically significant inverse association was seen in the b/tsDMARDs group (-0.005±0.002, p=0.01). Therapy interaction was particularly evident in several days before the visit also for O3.Conclusion:The changes of the outcome measures related to the increase of the pollutants’ levels did not reach the minimal clinically important difference, therefore air pollution seems barely relevant on disease activity once the loss of tolerance is established in RA. O3and PM/NO2always exhibit an opposite performance having inversely proportional atmospheric concentrations, whereas the biological role of this substance is still matter of debate and will need further understanding. Therapy seems to be able to interact with the relation between air pollutants and the parameters considered.Disclosure of Interests:Francesca Ingegnoli: None declared, Tania Ubiali: None declared, Tommaso Schioppo: None declared, Valentina Longo: None declared, Simona Iodice: None declared, Ennio Giulio Favalli Consultant of: Consultant and/or speaker for BMS, Eli-Lilly, MSD, UCB, Pfizer, Sanofi-Genzyme, Novartis, and Abbvie, Speakers bureau: Consultant and/or speaker for BMS, Eli-Lilly, MSD, UCB, Pfizer, Sanofi-Genzyme, Novartis, and Abbvie, Orazio De Lucia: None declared, Antonella Murgo: None declared, Valentina Bollati: None declared, Roberto Caporali Consultant of: AbbVie; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Lilly; Merck Sharp & Dohme; Celgene; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Pfizer; UCB, Speakers bureau: Abbvie; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Celgene; Lilly; Gilead Sciences, Inc; MSD; Pfizer; Roche; UCB


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
You-Jung Choi ◽  
Sun-Hwa Kim ◽  
Si-Hyuck Kang ◽  
Sun-Young Kim ◽  
Ok-Jin Kim ◽  
...  

AbstractElevated blood pressure (BP) has been proposed as a possible pathophysiological mechanism linking exposure to ambient air pollution and the increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. In this study, we investigated the hourly relationship between ambient air pollutants and BP. BP measurements were extracted from the electronic health record database of the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital from February 2015 to June 2017. A total of 98,577 individual BP measurements were matched to the hourly levels of air pollutants. A generalized additive model was constructed for hour lags of 0–8 of air pollutants adjusting for age, sex, meteorological variables, and time trend. Systolic BP was shown to be significantly lower at 2–4 hours and 3–5 hours after increased levels of SO2 and CO, respectively (0.24 mmHg and 0.26 mmHg for an interquartile range, respectively). In contrast, O3 and NO2 were associated with significantly increased systolic BP at 3–5 lag hours and at 0–2 lag hours, respectively. BP elevation in association with O3 and NO2 was shown to be significantly greater in hypertensive patients than normotensive subjects. Our findings suggest that short-term exposure to air pollution may be associated with elevated BP.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Maluf ◽  
M Malu. Perin ◽  
P O Malu. Perin ◽  
P Perin

Abstract Study question Are there any associations between ambient outdoor air pollution and the primary sex ratio (PSR)? Summary answer Short-term exposure to increased PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 levels were significantly associated with higher PSR. What is known already PSR estimates represent a backward extrapolation from data based on spontaneous or induced abortions, fetal deaths or live births and are usually male-biased. A recent study, analyzing 3- to 6-day-old embryos derived from assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures, showed that the sex ratio at conception is unbiased (0.5). Epidemiologic studies of air pollution on secondary (birth) sex ratio showed that higher levels of particulate pollution were associated with increased rates of female birth. However, a direct association between urban levels of air pollutants and PSR has not been reported. Study design, size, duration A retrospective cohort study was carried out to assess the impact of long- or short-term exposure to six ambient outdoor air pollutants (particulate matter, PM10µm and PM2.5µm; SO2; CO; NO2; O3) on PSR (XY/XX) of couples undergoing their first IVF cycle for preimplantation genetic screening (N = 337). Data was from fixed air quality monitoring stations across the city between January 2014 and December 2018. Embryos with sex chromosome abnormalities were excluded from the analysis. Participants/materials, setting, methods Average concentrations of the pollutants for the 90 (long-term exposure) and 15 days (short-term exposure) predating oocyte retrieval represented the exposures of interest. Pollutant levels were categorized into quartiles (Q1 to Q4) and exposure risk was divided into two periods in which average concentrations and confidence intervals for the pollutants were in the upper quartile (Q4 period) or not (Q1-Q3 period). The strength association between exposure risk and PSR was performed through analysis of covariance. Main results and the role of chance The estimated means of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, O3 and CO for Q1-Q3/Q4 periods were 27.7/39.3, 16.7/23.7, 2.5/3.9, 37.0/46.4, 32.2/45.3 µg/m3 and 0.64/0.87 ppm and 26.3/43.0, 16.0/26.3, 2.4/4.2, 36.5/47.8, 31.7/50.4 µg/m3 and 0.62/0.90 ppm for long- and short-term exposures, respectively. PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 levels in the Q4 period had significantly higher PSR (138.1, 134.0 and 137.6) when compared to Q1-Q3 period (94.4, 98.1 and 96.4) for the short-term exposure (p = 0.0193; p = 0.0439; p = 0.0180, respectively). PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2 and CO levels in the Q4 and Q1-Q3 periods for the long-term exposure showed no significant effect on PSR. Contrastingly, O3 levels in the Q4 period had significantly lower PSR (82.6) when compared to Q1-Q3 (115.9) for the long-term exposure (p = 0.0202). A monotonic increase in PSR was observed with increased PM10 concentration in the Q4 period for the short-term exposure (F-ratio: 4.4476; p = 0.0352). Limitations, reasons for caution Some limitations of the study should be underlined, such as its retrospective nature, exposure assessment based on pollutant levels derived from a network average across city sites, and limited extrapolation of the results to the general population. Wider implications of the findings: Our data suggest that short-term exposure to environmental factors could affect the primary sex ratio in polluted seasons or cities. A monotonic effect on PSR in the case of exposure to increasing PM10 levels was identified. Trial registration number Not applicable


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghong Yao ◽  
Gonghua Wu ◽  
Xing Zhao ◽  
Juying Zhang

Abstract Background Existing studies focused on the evaluation of health burden of long-term exposure to air pollutants, whereas limited information is available on short-term exposure, particularly in China.Methods Air pollutants concentrations in 338 Chinese cities in 2017 were used to estimate the air pollutants related health burden which was defined as premature mortalities from all-cause, cardiovascular and respiratory disease as well as hospital admissions (HAs) for cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Log-linear model was used as the exposure-response function to estimate the health burden attributable to each air pollutant. The value of statistical life and cost of illness methods were used to estimate economic loss of the premature mortalities and HAs, respectively.Results The national all-cause premature mortalities attributable to all air pollutants was 1.35 million, accounting for 17.2% of reported deaths in China in 2017. Among all-cause premature mortality, contributions of PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3 were 16.3%, 9.6%, 28.9%, 22.2% and 23.0%, respectively. The national cardiovascular and respiratory premature mortalities were 0.78 and 0.21 million, respectively. About 6.79 million cardiovascular and respiratory disease HAs were attributed to short-term exposure to PM10, SO2, NO2, and O3. The economic loss of the overall health burden was 2057.66 billion Yuan, which was equivalent to 2.5% of the national GDP in 2017.Conclusions The health burden and economic loss attributable to short-term exposure to ambient air pollutant are substantial in China. It suggested that the adverse health effects attributable to short-term exposure to air pollutant should not be neglected in China.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhabrata Moitra ◽  
Ali Farshchi Tabrizi ◽  
Dina Fathy ◽  
Samineh Kamravaei ◽  
Noushin Miandashti ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTRationaleThe increasing incidence of extreme wildfire is becoming a concern for public health. Although long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with respiratory illnesses, reports on the association between short-term occupational exposure to wildfire smoke and lung function remain scarce.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data of 218 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers (mean age: 38±9 years) deployed at the Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016. Individual exposure to air pollutants was calculated by integrating the duration of exposure with the air quality parameters obtained from the nearest air quality monitoring station during the phase of deployment. Lung function was measured using spirometry and body plethysmography. Association between exposure and lung function was examined using principal component linear regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsThe participants were predominantly male (71%). Mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and residual volume (RV) were 76.5±5.9 and 80.1±19.5 of % predicted. A marginal association was observed between the principal air pollution component and higher RV [β: 1.55; 95%CI: -0.28 to 3.37 per interquartile range change of air pollution index], but not with other lung function indices. The association was significantly higher in participants who were screened within the first three months of deployment [2.80; 0.91 to 4.70] than those screened later [-0.28; -2.58 to 2.03], indicating a more acute effect of air pollution on peripheral airways.ConclusionAcute short-term exposure to wildfire-associated air pollutants may impose subtle but clinically important deleterious respiratory effects, particularly in the peripheral airways.


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