Relationship between Particulate Matter (PM) and Airway Inflammation Measured with Exhaled Nitric Oxide Test in Seoul, Korea.

PURPOSE

Particulate matter (PM) is increasing every year in Asia. It is not fully understood how the airway is affected when inhaling PM. We investigated the correlation between particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 m (PM) and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) to determine whether PM causes airway inflammation. . We analyzed patients who visited our outpatient clinic and tested FeNO from January 2016 to December 2017 at the Korea University Guro Hospital. PM data were provided by the government of the Republic of South Korea, and measuring station of PM is located 800 meters from the hospital. We analyzed the correlation between PM and FeNO by a Pearson correlation analysis and by a multivariate linear regression analysis. To identify the most correlated times, we analyzed the correlation between the FeNO and PM daily average from the day of visit to 4 days before visit.

RESULTS

FeNO positively correlated with PM at two days before hospital visit in the Pearson correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.057; -value = 0.023) and in the multivariate linear regression analysis ( = 0.051, -value = 0.026). If the PM increased by 100 g/m, the FeNO result was expected to rise to 8.3 ppb in healthy people without respiratory disease.

CONCLUSION

The positive correlation was found in both healthy people and asthmatic patients. Therefore, PM can increase airway inflammation.