4+4 Medical Doctor Program, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Department of Otolaryngology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2024 Nov 1;286:117205. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2024.117205. Epub 2024 Oct 22.
Ambient air pollution has become a challenging global health issue since industrialization, especially affecting respiratory diseases. However, the causal link between air pollution and allergic respiratory diseases (ARDs) remains unclear due to confounding factors in conventional epidemiological studies across different populations. Thus, we aimed to clarify the causal associations between air pollution and ARDs in European and East Asian populations using Mendelian randomization (MR).
MR utilizes genetic variants and provides a satisfactory level of causal evidence. Genetic data for exposures (PM, PM absorbance, PM, PM, NO and NO) and outcomes (allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, asthma, and obesity related asthma) were obtained from genome-wide association studies. Instrumental variables were strictly filtered based on core assumptions. Two-sample MR and sensitivity analyses were conducted separately for European and East Asian populations.
PM was causally associated with an increased risk of chronic rhinosinusitis (OR = 1.588 [1.002-2.518]; p = 0.049) and obesity related asthma (OR = 1.956 [1.012-3.780]; p = 0.046) in European population, and PM was associated with a decreased risk of allergic rhinitis in East Asian population (OR = 0.882 [0.798-0.974]; p = 0.013). No heterogeneity or pleiotropy was detected in any significant causal association.
Our findings indicate that ambient air pollution has opposite impacts on the etiology of ARDs in European and East Asian populations, which provides evidence for decisions on public policies and suggests that different responses to environmental factors such as air pollution may contribute to racial heterogeneity of ARDs.
自工业化以来，环境空气污染已成为一个具有挑战性的全球健康问题，尤其对呼吸系统疾病有影响。然而，由于不同人群的常规流行病学研究中存在混杂因素，空气污染与过敏性呼吸道疾病（ARDs）之间的因果关系仍不清楚。因此，我们旨在使用孟德尔随机化（MR）方法在欧洲和东亚人群中阐明空气污染与 ARDs 之间的因果关系。
MR 利用遗传变异，并提供令人满意的因果证据水平。暴露（PM、PM 吸收率、PM、PM、NO 和 NO）和结果（过敏性鼻炎、慢性鼻-鼻窦炎、哮喘和肥胖相关哮喘）的遗传数据来自全基因组关联研究。根据核心假设严格筛选工具变量。分别针对欧洲和东亚人群进行两样本 MR 和敏感性分析。
在欧洲人群中，PM 与慢性鼻-鼻窦炎（OR=1.588[1.002-2.518]；p=0.049）和肥胖相关哮喘（OR=1.956[1.012-3.780]；p=0.046）的风险增加有关，而 PM 与东亚人群中过敏性鼻炎的风险降低有关（OR=0.882[0.798-0.974]；p=0.013）。在任何显著的因果关联中，均未检测到异质性或多效性。
我们的研究结果表明，环境空气污染对欧洲和东亚人群 ARDs 的病因学有相反的影响，这为公共政策决策提供了依据，并表明对环境因素（如空气污染）的不同反应可能导致 ARDs 的种族异质性。
