Indoor microbiome, air pollutants and asthma, rhinitis and eczema in preschool children - A repeated cross-sectional study

Yu Sun; Yi Meng; Zheyuan Ou; Yanling Li; Mei Zhang; Yang Chen; Zefei Zhang; Xingyi Chen; Peiqiang Mu; Dan Norbäck; Zhuohui Zhao; Xin Zhang; Xi Fu

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107137

Indoor microbiome, air pollutants and asthma, rhinitis and eczema in preschool children - A repeated cross-sectional study

Environ Int. 2022 Mar:161:107137. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107137. Epub 2022 Feb 12.

Authors

Yu Sun¹, Yi Meng², Zheyuan Ou², Yanling Li², Mei Zhang², Yang Chen², Zefei Zhang³, Xingyi Chen³, Peiqiang Mu², Dan Norbäck⁴, Zhuohui Zhao⁵, Xin Zhang⁶, Xi Fu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Function and Regulation in Agricultural Organisms, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Function and Regulation in Agricultural Organisms, College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China; Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China; Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, PR China.
³ Institute of Environmental Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, PR China.
⁴ Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dept. of Medical Science, University Hospital, Uppsala University, 75237 Uppsala, Sweden.
⁵ Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment (Fudan University), Shanghai Typhoon Institute/CMA, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Meteorology and Health, Shanghai 200030, China.
⁶ Institute of Environmental Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, PR China. Electronic address: xinzhang0051@sxu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510006, PR China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center of Public Health Detection and Assessment, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, PR China. Electronic address: fuxi@gdpu.edu.cn.

PMID: 35168186
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107137

Abstract

Background: Indoor microbiome exposure is associated with asthma, rhinitis and eczema. However, no studies report the interactions between environmental characteristics, indoor microbiome and health effects in a repeated cross-sectional framework.

Methods: 1,279 and 1,121 preschool children in an industrial city (Taiyuan) of China were assessed for asthma, rhinitis and eczema symptoms in 2012 and 2019 by self-administered questionnaires, respectively. Bacteria and fungi in classroom vacuum dust were characterized by culture-independent amplicon sequencing. Multi-level logistic/linear regression was performed in two cross-sectional and two combined models to assess the associations.

Results: The number of observed species in bacterial and fungal communities in classrooms increased significantly from 2012 to 2019, and the compositions of the microbial communities were drastically changed (p < 0.001). The temporal microbiome variation was significantly larger than the spatial variation within the city (p < 0.001). Annual average outdoor SO₂ concentration decreased by 60.7%, whereas NO₂ and PM₁₀ concentrations increased by 63.3% and 40.0% from 2012 to 2019, which were both associated with indoor microbiome variation (PERMANOVA p < 0.001). The prevalence of asthma (2.0% to 3.3%, p = 0.06) and rhinitis (28.0% to 25.3%, p = 0.13) were not significantly changed, but the prevalence of eczema was increased (3.6% to 7.0%; p < 0.001). Aspergillus subversicolor, Collinsella and Cutibacterium were positively associated with asthma, rhinitis and eczema, respectively (p < 0.01). Prevotella, Lactobacillus iners and Dolosigranulum were protectively (negatively) associated with rhinitis (p < 0.01), consistent with previous studies in the human respiratory tract. NO₂ and PM₁₀ concentrations were negatively associated with rhinitis in a bivariate model, but a multivariate mediation analysis revealed that Prevotella fully mediated the health effects.

Conclusions: This is the first study to report the interactions between environmental characteristics, indoor microbiome and health in a repeated cross-sectional framework. The mediating effects of indoor microorganisms suggest incorporating biological with chemical exposure for a comprehensive exposure assessment.

Keywords: Air pollutants; Amplicon sequencing; Asthma; Eczema; Microbial diversity and community variation; Preschool children; Repeated cross-sectional study; Rhinitis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / adverse effects
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution, Indoor* / adverse effects
Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
Asthma* / epidemiology
Asthma* / etiology
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Eczema* / epidemiology
Eczema* / etiology
Humans
Microbiota*
Prevalence
Rhinitis* / epidemiology

Substances

Air Pollutants