Air pollution, genetic factors and the risk of osteoporosis: A prospective study in the UK biobank

Xing-Hao Yu; Han-Wen Cao; Lin Bo; Shu-Feng Lei; Fei-Yan Deng

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1119774

Air pollution, genetic factors and the risk of osteoporosis: A prospective study in the UK biobank

Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 21:11:1119774. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1119774. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xing-Hao Yu^{1

2}, Han-Wen Cao^{1

2}, Lin Bo³, Shu-Feng Lei^{1

2

4}, Fei-Yan Deng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Center for Genetic Epidemiology and Genomics, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
² Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, Soochow University, Jiangsu, China.
³ Department of Rheumatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Center of Bone and Immunity Between Sihong Hospital and Soochow University, Jiangsu, China.

Abstract

Purpose: To reveal relationship between air pollution exposure and osteoporosis (OP) risk.

Methods: Based on large-scale data from the UK Biobank, we evaluated the relationship between OP risk and several air pollutants. Then air pollution scores (APS) were constructed to assess the combined effects of multiple air pollutants on OP risk. Finally, we constructed a genetic risk score (GRS) based on a large genome-wide association study of femoral neck bone mineral density and assessed whether single or combined exposure to air pollutants modifies the effect of genetic risk on OP and fracture risk.

Results: PM_2.5, NO₂, NO_x, and APS were significantly associated with an increased risk of OP/fracture. OP and fracture risk raised with increasing concentrations of air pollutants: compared to the lowest APS quintile group, subjects in the highest quintile group had a hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) estimated at 1.140 (1.072-1.213) for OP and 1.080 (1.026-1.136) for fracture. Moreover, participants with low GRS and the highest air pollutant concentration had the highest risk of OP, the HRs (95% CI) of OP were 1.706 (1.483-1.964), 1.658 (1.434-1.916), 1.696 (1.478-1.947), 1.740 (1.506-2.001) and 1.659 (1.442-1.908), respectively, for PM_2.5, PM₁₀, PM_2.5-10, NO₂, and NO_x. Similar results were also observed for fractures. Finally, we assessed the joint effect of APS and GRS on the risk of OP. Participants with higher APS and lower GRS had a higher risk of developing OP. Similar results were observed in the joint effect of GRS and APS on fracture.

Conclusions: We found that exposure to air pollution, individually or jointly, could improve the risk of developing OP and fractures, and increased the risk by interacting with genetic factors.

Keywords: air pollutant; air pollution score; genetic factor; genetic risk score; osteoporosis.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / adverse effects
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / adverse effects
Air Pollution* / analysis
Biological Specimen Banks
Genome-Wide Association Study
Humans
Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
Osteoporosis* / epidemiology
Osteoporosis* / genetics
Particulate Matter / adverse effects
Particulate Matter / analysis
Prospective Studies
United Kingdom / epidemiology

Substances

Particulate Matter
Nitrogen Dioxide
Air Pollutants

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (82173529, 82173598, and 82271612), the Science and Technology Project of Suzhou (SS202050 and SYS2019024), and Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX22_3227).