Hannu Timo, Jaakkola Maritta S, Kivisaari Leena, Huuskonen Matti S, Vehmas Tapio
Department of Occupational Medicine, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland.
Chronobiol Int. 2007;24(3):539-51. doi: 10.1080/07420520701420725.
The season of birth has been suggested to influence the development of some diseases, but its role in lung fibrosis seems to not have been studied previously. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the season of birth and fibrotic abnormalities as detected radiologically in high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) among workers exposed to asbestos. The HRCT examination was performed on 528 study subjects. Multiple ordinal regression analysis adjusting for covariates was used to study the relations between birth month or season and radiological fibrosis signs. Subjects born in autumn or winter had more extensive fibrotic changes than those born in spring or summer. This applied to all fibrotic changes, apart from subpleural nodules, but only the overall fibrosis score, septal lines, and honeycombing showed statistically significantly higher values in comparison to spring births. The highest scores were detected among those born in autumn and winter months (September-February). These results suggest that there are differences in fibrotic radiological abnormalities according to the season of birth in adults exposed to asbestos. Several hypotheses could explain the observed findings, including the effects of early respiratory infections, cold temperature, and differences in air pollution levels, as well as some metabolic and hormonal effects.
出生季节被认为会影响某些疾病的发展，但它在肺纤维化中的作用此前似乎尚未得到研究。本研究的目的是调查在接触石棉的工人中，出生季节与高分辨率计算机断层扫描（HRCT）放射学检测到的纤维化异常之间的关系。对528名研究对象进行了HRCT检查。采用调整协变量的多元有序回归分析来研究出生月份或季节与放射学纤维化征象之间的关系。秋季或冬季出生的受试者比春季或夏季出生的受试者有更广泛的纤维化改变。除胸膜下结节外，这适用于所有纤维化改变，但与春季出生相比，只有总体纤维化评分、间隔线和蜂窝状改变在统计学上有显著更高的值。在秋季和冬季出生的人（9月至2月）中检测到的分数最高。这些结果表明，在接触石棉的成年人中，根据出生季节，纤维化放射学异常存在差异。有几个假设可以解释观察到的结果，包括早期呼吸道感染、低温、空气污染水平差异以及一些代谢和激素影响。
