Adverse associations of long-term exposure to ambient ozone with molecular biomarkers of aging alleviated by residential greenness in rural Chinese adults

Ruiying Li; Gongbo Chen; Mingming Pan; Xiaoyu Hou; Ning Kang; Ruoling Chen; Yinghao Yuchi; Wei Liao; Xiaotian Liu; Zhenxing Mao; Wenqian Huo; Yuming Guo; Shanshan Li; Chongjian Wang; Jian Hou

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107496

Adverse associations of long-term exposure to ambient ozone with molecular biomarkers of aging alleviated by residential greenness in rural Chinese adults

Environ Int. 2022 Nov:169:107496. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107496. Epub 2022 Sep 5.

Authors

Ruiying Li¹, Gongbo Chen², Mingming Pan¹, Xiaoyu Hou¹, Ning Kang¹, Ruoling Chen³, Yinghao Yuchi¹, Wei Liao¹, Xiaotian Liu¹, Zhenxing Mao¹, Wenqian Huo¹, Yuming Guo⁴, Shanshan Li⁵, Chongjian Wang¹, Jian Hou⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China.
² Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Environmental and Health Risk Assessment, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, PR China.
³ Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, PR China. Electronic address: houjian1988@zzu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36084404
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107496

Abstract

Background: Both ambient ozone exposure and residential greenness are linked to the aging process. However, their interactive effect on molecular biomarkers of aging (telomere length (TL) and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN)) remains unclear.

Methods: This study was conducted among 6418 rural Chinese adults. The concentration of ambient ozone was assessed using a random forest model. Residential greenness was represented by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Molecular biomarkers of aging (relative TL and relative mtDNA-CN) were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Generalized linear regression models were applied to investigate the independent and combined effects of ambient ozone and residential greenness on relative TL and relative mtDNA-CN.

Results: The estimated percent changes and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of relative TL in response to per-unit increase in ambient ozone were -22.43 % (-23.74 %, -21.18 %), -14.19 % (-15.63 %, -12.72 %) and -4.50 % (-6.57 %, -2.27 %) for participants with low (NDVI ≤ 0.53), moderate (0.54-0.55) and high (≥0.56) residential greenness exposure, respectively, while the corresponding figures of relative mtDNA-CN were -12.63 % (-13.84 %, -11.31 %), -9.52 % (-10.60 %, -8.33 %) and 2.12 % (0.20 %, 4.19 %). Furthermore, negative interactive effects between ambient ozone and residential greenness exposure on molecular biomarkers of aging were observed (P_{for interaction} < 0.001 for relative TL, and 0.098 for relative mtDNA-CN).

Conclusions: Long-term exposure to high concentrations of ambient ozone and low residential greenness was associated with decreased mtDNA-CN and shortened TL. The adverse effect of ambient ozone exposure on molecular biomarkers of aging may be attenuated by increased residential greenness.

Keywords: Mitochondrial DNA copy number; Ozone; Residential greenness; Rural population; Telomere length.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aging
Biomarkers
China
DNA, Mitochondrial
Humans
Ozone* / adverse effects

Substances

Biomarkers
DNA, Mitochondrial
Ozone