Intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature and the extracellular microRNA profile of participants in the normative aging study (NAS)

Environ Res. 2023 Jul 15:229:115949. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115949. Epub 2023 Apr 19.

Abstract

Background: The molecular effects of intermediate and long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature, such as those on extracellular microRNA (ex-miRNA) are not well understood but may have clinical consequences.

Objectives: To assess the association between exposure to ambient air pollution and temperature and ex-miRNA profiles.

Methods: Our study population consisted of 734 participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS) between 1999 and 2015. We used high-resolution models to estimate four-week, eight-week, twelve-week, six-month, and one-year moving averages of PM2.5, O3, NO2, and ambient temperature based on geo-coded residential addresses. The outcome of interest was the extracellular microRNA (ex-miRNA) profile of each participant over time. We used a longitudinal quantile regression approach to estimate the association between the exposures and each ex-miRNA. Results were corrected for multiple comparisons and ex-miRNAs that were still significantly associated with the exposures were further analyzed using KEGG pathway analysis and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis.

Results: We found 151 significant associations between levels of PM2.5, O3, NO2, and ambient temperature and 82 unique ex-miRNAs across multiple quantiles. Most of the significant results were associations with intermediate-term exposure to O3, long-term exposure to PM2.5, and both intermediate and long-term exposure to ambient temperature. The exposures were most often associated with the 75th and 90th percentile of the outcomes. Pathway analyses of significant ex-miRNAs revealed their involvement in biological pathways involving cell function and communication as well as clinical diseases such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and neurological disease.

Conclusion: Our results show that intermediate and long-term exposure to all our exposures of interest were associated with changes in the ex-miRNA profile of study participants. Further studies on environmental risk factors and ex-miRNAs are warranted.

Keywords: Air pollution; Ambient temperature; Nitrogen dioxide; Ozone; Particulate matter; microRNA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Aging
  • Air Pollutants* / analysis
  • Air Pollution* / adverse effects
  • Air Pollution* / analysis
  • Environmental Exposure / analysis
  • Humans
  • MicroRNAs* / analysis
  • Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
  • Ozone* / analysis
  • Particulate Matter / analysis
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Nitrogen Dioxide
  • Particulate Matter
  • nas
  • MicroRNAs
  • Ozone