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. 2008 Jun;116(6):832-8.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.10926.

Air pollution, airway inflammation, and lung function in a cohort study of Mexico City schoolchildren

Albino Barraza-Villarreal  1 , Jordi Sunyer, Leticia Hernandez-Cadena, Maria Consuelo Escamilla-Nuñez, Juan Jose Sienra-Monge, Matiana Ramírez-Aguilar, Marlene Cortez-Lugo, Fernando Holguin, David Diaz-Sánchez, Anna Carin Olin, Isabelle Romieu
Affiliations

Air pollution, airway inflammation, and lung function in a cohort study of Mexico City schoolchildren

Albino Barraza-Villarreal et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The biological mechanisms involved in inflammatory response to air pollution are not clearly understood.

Objective: In this study we assessed the association of short-term air pollutant exposure with inflammatory markers and lung function.

Methods: We studied a cohort of 158 asthmatic and 50 nonasthmatic school-age children, followed an average of 22 weeks. We conducted spirometric tests, measurements of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (Fe(NO)), interleukin-8 (IL-8) in nasal lavage, and pH of exhaled breath condensate every 15 days during follow-up. Data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.

Results: An increase of 17.5 microg/m(3) in the 8-hr moving average of PM(2.5) levels (interquartile range) was associated with a 1.08-ppb increase in Fe(NO) [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01-1.16] and a 1.07-pg/mL increase in IL-8 (95% CI 0.98-1.19) in asthmatic children and a 1.16 pg/ml increase in IL-8 (95% CI, 1.00-1.36) in nonasthmatic children. The 5-day accumulated average of exposure to particulate matter <2.5 microm in aerodynamic diamter (PM(2.5)) was significantly inversely associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV(1)) (p=0.048) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (p=0.012) in asthmatic children and with FVC (p=0.021) in nonasthmatic children. Fe(NO) and FEV(1) were inversely associated (p=0.005) in asthmatic children.

Conclusions: Exposure to PM(2.5) resulted in acute airway inflammation and decrease in lung function in both asthmatic and nonasthmatic children.

Keywords: air pollution; airway inflammation; asthma; epidemiology; lung function; schoolchildren.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of the study area, illustrating the location of the major roads and schools and the homes of the asthmatic and nonasthmatic children in each municipality, Mexico City, 2003–2005.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Eight-hour moving average concentrations of PM2.5 (μg/m3) during the study period, Mexico City, 2003–2005.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Association between FEV1 and PM2.5 average cumulative exposure in asthmatic children living in Mexico City, 2003–2005. *Twenty-four-hour maximum.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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