Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, South Korea; Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Integrated Health Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Dec 10;955:177098. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177098. Epub 2024 Oct 31.
Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) has been linked to an increased risk of atherosclerosis. However, it remains unclear whether specific compounds within PM, rather than the overall mass, serve as a better indicator of adverse cardiovascular health outcomes associated with air pollution.
In this cross-sectional study, we included 3257 participants (aged 37-51 years) from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Exposure to PM and its constituent compounds, black carbon (BC), ammonium, nitrate, organic matter, sulfate, mineral dust, and sea salt were included in the analyses. Carotid intima media thickness (cIMT; the average of common, bulb, and internal carotid) was measured by carotid ultrasonography. We assessed the cross-sectional associations of one-year exposure to PM and its compounds with mean cIMT using linear regression models adjusting for participants' demographics, individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic status, behavioral components, and health conditions. We also adopted Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models to investigate the association between the PM compound mixture and cIMT as well as the contribution of each compound to the association.
Greater exposure to BC was associated with higher cIMT (mm) (β =0.034, 95 % CI = 0.019-0.049, per IQR increase [0.56 μg/m] of BC) among participants with a mean age of 45.0, consisting of 45.9 % Black and 54.1 % White males and females. The association was generally consistent across participants' demographic characteristics. In our BKMR analysis, BC exhibited a dose-response association with cIMT with a high contribution to the association of cIMT with PM compound as a mixture (posterior inclusion probability [PIP]: 1.00).
Our findings suggest that certain compounds of PM, such as BC, may offer more reliable indications of the impact of air pollution on cardiovascular health.
细颗粒物（PM）暴露与动脉粥样硬化风险增加有关。然而，目前尚不清楚 PM 中的特定化合物，而不是整体质量，是否能更好地指示与空气污染相关的不良心血管健康结果。
在这项横断面研究中，我们纳入了来自冠状动脉风险发展在年轻人（CARDIA）研究的 3257 名参与者（年龄 37-51 岁）。分析中包括 PM 及其组成化合物，如黑碳（BC）、铵、硝酸盐、有机物、硫酸盐、矿物粉尘和海盐的暴露情况。颈动脉内膜中层厚度（cIMT；颈总、颈球和颈内动脉的平均值）通过颈动脉超声进行测量。我们使用线性回归模型，在调整了参与者的人口统计学特征、个体和邻里社会经济地位、行为因素和健康状况后，评估了 PM 及其化合物的一年暴露与平均 cIMT 的横断面相关性。我们还采用贝叶斯核机器回归（BKMR）模型来研究 PM 化合物混合物与 cIMT 的相关性以及每个化合物对相关性的贡献。
在平均年龄为 45.0 岁的参与者中，BC 暴露与 cIMT（mm）升高相关（β=0.034，95%CI=0.019-0.049，每增加一个 IQR[0.56μg/m]的 BC），参与者中包括 45.9%的黑人，和 54.1%的白种男性和女性。该关联在参与者的人口统计学特征方面基本一致。在我们的 BKMR 分析中，BC 与 cIMT 呈剂量反应关系，并且对 PM 化合物混合物与 cIMT 之间的关联有很高的贡献（后验纳入概率[PIP]：1.00）。
我们的研究结果表明，PM 中的某些化合物，如 BC，可能提供了更可靠的指示，表明空气污染对心血管健康的影响。
