Lysoglycerophospholipid metabolism alterations associated with ambient fine particulate matter exposure: Insights into the pro-atherosclerotic effects.

The biological pathways connecting ambient fine particulate matter (PM)-induced initial adverse effects to the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are not fully understood. We hypothesize that lysoglycerophospholipids (LysoGPLs) are pivotal mediators of atherosclerosis induced by exposure to PM. This study investigated the changes of LysoGPLs in response to PM exposure and the mediation role of LysoGPLs in the pro-atherosclerotic effects of PM exposure.

The 2023 report of the synergetic roadmap on carbon neutrality and clean air for China: Carbon reduction, pollution mitigation, greening, and growth.

The response to climate change and air pollution control demonstrates strong synergy across scientific mechanisms, targets, strategies, and governance systems. This report, based on a monitoring indicator system for coordinated governance of air pollution and climate change, employs an interdisciplinary approach combining natural and social sciences. It establishes 20 indicators across five key areas: air pollution and climate change, governance systems and practices, structural transformation and technologies, atmospheric components and emission reduction pathways, and health impacts and co-benefits.

A Comparative Analysis on Indoor and Outdoor PM and Their Hourly Associations with Acute Respiratory Inflammation Among College Students in Lhasa.

Ambient concentrations are commonly used as proxies for personal PM exposure in epidemiological studies, despite indoor settings being the places where people spend most of their time. In a panel study of 110 nonsmoking, healthy college students in Lhasa, Tibet, indoor PM was monitored using calibrated low-cost sensors for two multiweek periods, in over 40 dormitories where participants resided. We also repeatedly measured fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), an acute respiratory inflammation biomarker, for each participant.

Development of a targeted method for DNA adductome and its application as sensitive biomarkers of ambient air pollution exposure.

DNA adducts are widely recognized as biomarkers of exposure to environmental carcinogens and associated health effects in toxicological and epidemiological studies. This study presents a targeted and sensitive method for comprehensive DNA adductome analysis using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). The method was developed using calf thymus DNA, with careful optimization of mass spectrometric parameters, chromatographic separation conditions, and pretreatment methods.

Glycerophospholipid metabolism changes association with ozone exposure.

Exposure to ozone (O) has been associated with cardiovascular outcomes in humans, yet the underlying mechanisms of the adverse effect remain poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the association between O exposure and glycerophospholipid metabolism in healthy young adults. We quantified plasma concentrations of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) and lysophosphatidylcholines (lysoPCs) using a UPLC-MS/MS system.

Reduced human fecundity attributable to ambient fine particles in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with reduced human fecundity. However, the attributable burden has not been estimated for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the exposure-response function between PM and the infertility rate has been insufficiently studied.

Objective: This study examined the associations between long-term exposure to PM and human fecundity indicators, namely the expected time to pregnancy (TTP) and 12-month infertility rate (IR), and then estimated PM-attributable burden of infertility in LMICs.

Health benefits from the rapid reduction in ambient exposure to air pollutants after China's clean air actions: progress in efficacy and geographic equality.

Clean air actions (CAAs) in China have been linked to considerable benefits in public health. However, whether the beneficial effects of CAAs are equally distributed geographically is unknown. Using high-resolution maps of the distributions of major air pollutants (fine particulate matter [PM] and ozone [O]) and population, we aimed to track spatiotemporal changes in health impacts from, and geographic inequality embedded in, the reduced exposures to PM and O from 2013 to 2020.

Particulate Air Pollution and Blood Pressure: Signaling by the Arachidonate Metabolism.

Background: Short-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) can raise blood pressure, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. We explored whether arachidonate metabolites serve as biological intermediates in PM-associated prohypertensive changes.

Methods: This panel study recruited 110 adults aged 50 to 65 years living in Beijing, China.

Gestational age modifies the association between exposure to fine particles and fetal death: findings from a nationwide epidemiological study in the contiguous United States.

Backgrounds: The vulnerability of fetuses differs at different developmental stages, in response to environmental stressors such as fine particulate matter (PM), a ubiquitous air pollutant. Whether gestational age (GA) modifies the association between prenatal fine particulate matter (PM) exposure and fetal death remains unclear.

Methods: We selected approximately 47.

Estimating the exposure-response function between long-term ozone exposure and under-5 mortality in 55 low-income and middle-income countries: a retrospective, multicentre, epidemiological study.

Background: In 2021, WHO suggested new target concentration limits for long-term exposure to ambient ozone. However, the harmful effects of ozone on vulnerable children have not been sufficiently studied. We aimed to evaluate the association between long-term ozone exposure and mortality in children younger than 5 years (hereafter denoted under-5 mortality) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to estimate this mortality burden for 97 LMICs.

The short-term effect of ozone on pregnancy loss modified by temperature: Findings from a nationwide epidemiological study in the contiguous United States.

Background: Pregnancy loss, a major health issue that affects human sustainability, has been linked to short-term exposure to ground-surface ozone (O). However, the association is inconsistent, possibly because of the co-occurrence of O and heat episodes, as increased temperature is a risk factor for pregnancy loss. To explain this inconsistency, the effect of O on pregnancy loss needs to be examined jointly with that of high temperature.

Cardiovascular effects of wearing respirators against particulate matter: A randomized crossover trial.

Fine particles (PM) are implicated as an important risk to cardiovascular health. N95 respirators had been widely used to provide protection by filtering particles. Yet the practical effects of wearing respirators have not been fully understood.

Health Impacts of Long-Term NO Exposure and Inequalities among the Chinese Population from 2013 to 2020.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO) is associated with mortality and many other adverse health outcomes. In 2021, the World Health Organization established a new NO air quality guideline (AQG) (annual average <10 μg/m). However, the burden of diseases attributable to long-term NO exposure above the AQG is unknown in China.

Cardiovascular mortality risks during the 2017 exceptional heatwaves in China.

Climate change has made disastrous heatwaves more frequent. Heatwave-related health impacts are much more devastating for more intense heatwaves. In the summer of 2017, exceptional heatwaves occurred in many regions, including China.

Environmental and Behavioral Factors in Association with Lung Function Impairment in Children Living in Wuhan, China.

Children’s lung function is a significant predictor of health status throughout their lifetime. This study aims to identify the prevalence of impaired lung function in children and the potential influencing factors in elementary school children of Wuhan, China. Children of 6−12 years old were enrolled from elementary schools in Wuhan, China, in 2018, on the basis of a cross-sectional study design.

Development and validation of a simple and rapid HILIC-MS/MS method for the quantification of low-abundant lysoglycerophospholipids in human plasma.

Lysoglycerophospholipids (Lyso-GPLs) are an essential class of signaling lipids with potential roles in human diseases, such as cancer, central nervous system diseases, and atherosclerosis. Current methods for the quantification of Lyso-GPLs involve complex sample pretreatment, long analysis times, and insufficient validation, which hinder the research of Lyso-GPLs in human studies, especially for Lyso-GPLs with low abundance in human plasma such as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI), lysophosphatidylglycerol (LPG), lysophosphatidylserine (LysoPS), lyso-platelet-activating factor (LysoPAF), and cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA). Herein, we report the development and validation of a simple and rapid liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of Lyso-GPLs with low abundance in plasma.

Pro-thrombotic changes associated with exposure to ambient ultrafine particles in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: roles of lipid peroxidation and systemic inflammation.

Background: Exposure to particulate matter air pollution is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. Enhanced platelet and pro-thrombotic activity in COPD patients may explain their increased cardiovascular risk. We aim to explore whether short-term exposure to ambient particulate matter is associated with pro-thrombotic changes in adults with and without COPD, and investigate the underlying biological mechanisms in a longitudinal panel study.

Household mold exposure in association with childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis in a northwestern city and a southern city of China.

Background: The prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases has increased rapidly in Chinese cities over the past decades. Few studies have examined the potential role of household mold in asthma and allergies in Chinese cities.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey in 4,691 school-age children was performed in Lanzhou and Wuhan.

Ambient Air Pollution and Atherosclerosis: A Potential Mediating Role of Sphingolipids.

Background: The pathophysiological mechanisms of air pollution-induced atherosclerosis are incompletely understood. Sphingolipids serve as biological intermediates during atherosclerosis development by facilitating production of proatherogenic apoB (apolipoprotein B)-containing lipoproteins. We explored whether sphingolipids mediate the proatherogenic effects of air pollution.

New WHO global air quality guidelines help prevent premature deaths in China.

The World Health Organization has issued new air quality guidelines (AQG). Based on 2020 data, achieving the new AQG for PM2.5 could prevent an additional 285,000 chronic deaths and 13,000 acute deaths, across China, compared with the previous AQG.

Association of nanoparticle exposure with serum metabolic disorders of healthy adults in printing centers.

Printers are everyday devices in both our homes and workplaces. We have previously found high occupational exposure levels to toner-based printer emitted nanoparticles (PEPs) at printing centers. To elucidate the potential health effects from exposure to PEPs, a total of 124 human serum samples were collected from 32 workers in the printing centers during the repeated follow-up measurements, and global serum metabolomics were analyzed in three ways: correlation between metabolic response and personal exposure (dose response exposure); metabolite response changes between Monday and Friday of a work week (short-term exposure), and metabolite response in relation to length of service in a center (long-term exposure).

Ceramide metabolism mediates the impaired glucose homeostasis following short-term black carbon exposure: A targeted lipidomic analysis.

Background: Ambient particulate matter (PM), especially its carbonaceous composition black carbon (BC) increases cardiometabolic risks, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Ceramides (Cer; a class of sphingolipids) are biological intermediates in glucose metabolism.

Objectives: To explore whether Cer metabolism mediates impaired glucose homeostasis following short-term PM exposure.