The associations of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures with plasma glucose and amino acids

Linchen He; Xinyan Hu; Drew B Day; Meilin Yan; Yanbo Teng; Xing Lucy Liu; Erik Yan; Jianbang Xiang; Xinghua Qiu; Jinhan Mo; Yinping Zhang; Junfeng Jim Zhang; Jicheng Gong

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117945

The associations of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposures with plasma glucose and amino acids

Environ Pollut. 2021 Nov 15:289:117945. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117945. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

Authors

Linchen He¹, Xinyan Hu², Drew B Day³, Meilin Yan², Yanbo Teng⁴, Xing Lucy Liu⁵, Erik Yan⁶, Jianbang Xiang⁷, Xinghua Qiu², Jinhan Mo⁸, Yinping Zhang⁸, Junfeng Jim Zhang⁹, Jicheng Gong¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
² BIC-ESAT and SKL-ESPC, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China; Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
³ Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, 98145, United States.
⁴ Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, 215316, China.
⁵ Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
⁶ Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, 215316, China.
⁷ Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, United States.
⁸ Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Quality Evaluation and Control, Beijing, 100084, China.
⁹ Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA; Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, 215316, China.
¹⁰ BIC-ESAT and SKL-ESPC, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China; Center for Environment and Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China. Electronic address: jicheng.gong@pku.edu.cn.

PMID: 34426189
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117945

Abstract

Nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (nitro-PAHs) have been widely studied for their mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. This study aims to investigate whether exposure to nitro-PAHs is associated with biomarkers of carbohydrate metabolism, an underlying risk factor for metabolic disorder. Early morning urine and blood samples were longitudinally collected two times with a four-week interval from 43 healthy adults. Five urinary amino-PAHs (1-aminonaphthalene, 2-aminonaphthalene, 9-aminophenanthrene, 2-aminofluorene, and 1-aminopyrene) were measured as biomarkers of nitro-PAH exposures. We measured plasma concentrations of glucose and six amino acids that can regulate insulin secretion, including aspartate (Asp), glutamate (Glu), glutamine (Gln), alanine (Ala), Arginine (Arg), and ornithine (Orn). We found that increasing concentrations of 9-aminophenanthrene were significantly associated with increasing glucose levels and with decreasing Asp, Glu, Ala, and Orn levels. We estimated that 26.4 %-43.8 % of the 9-aminophenanthrene-associated increase in glucose level was mediated by Asp, Glu, and Orn. These results suggest that exposure to certain nitro-PAHs affects glucose homeostasis, partly resulting from the depletion of insulin-stimulating amino acids (Asp, Glu, and Orn).

Keywords: Amino acids; Amino-PAH; Carbohydrate metabolism; Glucose homeostasis; Nitro-PAH.

MeSH terms

Adult
Amino Acids
Biomarkers
Blood Glucose*
Humans
Nitrates
Nitrogen Oxides
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons*

Substances

Amino Acids
Biomarkers
Blood Glucose
Nitrates
Nitrogen Oxides
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons