Air pollutants in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and pulmonary tuberculosis: A mediation analysis of gene-specific methylation

Qiao Liu; Ye Ji; Li Wang; Zhongqi Li; Bilin Tao; Limei Zhu; Wei Lu; Leonardo Martinez; Yi Zeng; Jianming Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108391

Air pollutants in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and pulmonary tuberculosis: A mediation analysis of gene-specific methylation

iScience. 2023 Nov 3;26(12):108391. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108391. eCollection 2023 Dec 15.

Authors

Qiao Liu^{1

2}, Ye Ji^{1

3}, Li Wang¹, Zhongqi Li¹, Bilin Tao¹, Limei Zhu², Wei Lu², Leonardo Martinez⁴, Yi Zeng⁵, Jianming Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211166, P.R. China.
² Department of Chronic Communicable Disease, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210009, P.R. China.
³ Department of Non-Communicable Disease, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Jiangyin City, Wuxi 214434, P.R. China.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Tuberculosis, Nanjing Public Health Medical Center, Nanjing Second Hospital, Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 211113, P.R. China.

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) exposure could alter the risk of tuberculosis, but the underlying mechanism is still unclear. We enrolled 132 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients and 30 controls. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples were collected from all participants to detect organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metal elements, and DNA methylation of immunity-related genes. We observed that γ-HCH, Bap, Sr, Ag, and Sn were related to an increased risk of PTB, while Cu and Ba had a negative effect. IFN-γ, IL-17A, IL-2, and IL-23 had a higher level in the PTB group, while IL-4 was lower. The methylation of 18 CpG sites was statistically associated with PTB risk. The methylation at the IL-4_06_121 site showed a significant mediating role on γ-HCH, Sr, and Sn. Our study suggests that PM exposure can increase the risk of tuberculosis by affecting DNA methylation and cytokine expression.

Keywords: disease; environmental science; pollution.