Does healthy lifestyle attenuate the detrimental effects of urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on phenotypic aging? An analysis from NHANES 2001-2010

Zhenqing Yang; Fan Pu; Xingqi Cao; Xueqin Li; Sudan Sun; Jingyun Zhang; Chen Chen; Liyuan Han; Yongli Yang; Wei Wang; Yawei Zhang; Zuyun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113542

Does healthy lifestyle attenuate the detrimental effects of urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on phenotypic aging? An analysis from NHANES 2001-2010

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2022 Jun 1:237:113542. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113542. Epub 2022 Apr 22.

Authors

Zhenqing Yang¹, Fan Pu¹, Xingqi Cao¹, Xueqin Li¹, Sudan Sun¹, Jingyun Zhang¹, Chen Chen², Liyuan Han³, Yongli Yang⁴, Wei Wang⁵, Yawei Zhang⁶, Zuyun Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health and Center for Clinical Big Data and Analytics of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, China.
² National Institute of Environmental and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100021, China; National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
³ Department of Global Health, Ningbo Institute of Life and Health Industry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315200, Zhejiang, China; Hwa Mei Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315200, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China.
⁵ Department of Occupational Health and Occupational Disease, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China.
⁶ National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
⁷ Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health and Center for Clinical Big Data and Analytics of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, China. Electronic address: Zuyun.liu@outlook.com.

PMID: 35468442
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113542

Abstract

Existing evidence has showed that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increases the risk of many chronic diseases. Given the close connection between aging (a major risk factor) and chronic diseases, however, very few studies have evaluated the association between PAHs and aging. Furthermore, whether modifiable healthy lifestyle could attenuate the detrimental effect of PAHs on aging remains unknown. Therefore, we conducted this study, aiming to: (1) examine the associations of urinary monohydroxy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) and lifestyle with Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAge.Accel), a novel aging measure that captures morbidity and mortality risk; and (2) evaluate the potential interaction effects of OH-PAHs and lifestyle on PhenoAge.Accel. Cross-sectional data of 2,579 participants (aged 20-84 years, n = 1,292 females) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for years 2001-2010 were analyzed. A lifestyle index was constructed based on five components (drinking, smoking, body mass index, physical activity, and diet), ranging from 0 to 5. We calculated PhenoAge.Accel using algorithms developed previously. General linear regression models were used to examine the associations. We observed strong associations of OH-PAHs and lifestyle with PhenoAge.Accel. For instance, one unit increase in ∑NAP (sum of 1- and 2-hydroxynaphthalene) was associated with 0.37 year (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26, 0.48) increase in PhenoAge.Accel. We did not observe statistically significant interaction effects between OH-PAHs and lifestyle on PhenoAge.Accel. After stratified by sex, we observed strong associations as well as statistically significant interactions of OH-PAHs and lifestyle with PhenoAge.Accel among females. In conclusion, both OH-PAHs and lifestyle were independently associated with phenotypic aging and there were statistically significant interactions between OH-PAHs and lifestyle on phenotypic aging among females. The findings highlight the importance of adherence to a healthy lifestyle to attenuate the detrimental effects of exposures to PAHs on phenotypic aging among females.

Keywords: Aging; Lifestyle; National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Phenotypic Age; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.

MeSH terms

Aging
Biomarkers
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Healthy Lifestyle
Humans
Male
Nutrition Surveys
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / toxicity

Substances

Biomarkers
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons