Long-term exposure to PM2.5 compositions and O3 and their interactive effects on DNA methylation of peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor promoter

Haoyu Huang; Bing Xie; Yuewei Liu; Guang-Hui Dong; Ruqing Liu; Zhaohuan Gui; Lijun Chen; Shanshan Li; Yuming Guo; Lei Yang; Gongbo Chen

doi:10.1080/09603123.2023.2280157

Long-term exposure to PM_2.5 compositions and O₃ and their interactive effects on DNA methylation of peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor promoter

Int J Environ Health Res. 2023 Nov 8:1-12. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2023.2280157. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Haoyu Huang¹, Bing Xie^{2

3}, Yuewei Liu⁴, Guang-Hui Dong¹, Ruqing Liu¹, Zhaohuan Gui¹, Lijun Chen⁵, Shanshan Li⁶, Yuming Guo⁶, Lei Yang⁷, Gongbo Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
² College of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
³ Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Collaborative Innovation Center of Forensic Medical Molecular Identification, Research Unit of Digestive Tract Microecosystem Pharmacology and Toxicology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ College of Information Engineering, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China.
⁶ Climate, Air Quality Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hebei Key Laboratory of Environment and Human Health, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.

PMID: 37939783
DOI: 10.1080/09603123.2023.2280157

Abstract

This study examined the associations of long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) compositions/ozone with methylation of peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) promoters. A total of 101 participants were recruited from a cohort in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, China. They underwent baseline and follow-up surveys in 2011 and 2015. DNA methylation levels were detected by bisulfite-PCR amplification and pyrosequencing. Participants' three-year average levels of PM_2.5 compositions and ozone were estimated. Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were used to examine the joint effects of pollutants on methylation levels. Exposure to PM_2.5 compositions and ozone mixtures at the 75th percentile was associated with increased methylation levels at CpG2 of BDNF promoter (203%, 95% CI: 89, 316) than the lowest level of exposure, and sulfate dominated the effect in the BKMR models.Our findings provide clues to the epigenetic mechanisms for the associations of PM_2.5 compositions and ozone with BDNF.

Keywords: BDNF promoter; DNA methylation; Particulate matter; ozone; sulfate.