Background: No previous epidemiological study has investigated the combined association of long-term ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO) and particulate matter of diameter size-2.5 (PM) exposure with asthma outcomes among schoolchildren in Africa.
Objectives: This study investigated the independent and co-pollutant association of long-term exposures to ambient air pollutants on asthma-associated outcomes in a cohort of schoolchildren in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
Methods: A total of 590 grade-4 schoolchildren residing in four informal settlements were studied. Spirometry and fractional exhaled nitric-oxide (FeNO) measurements were conducted, including a standardized questionnaire administered to caregivers at baseline and 12-months follow-up. Annual NO and PM levels were estimated for each child's home using land-use regression modelling. Single- and two-pollutant models were constructed to assess the independent and co-pollutant association of both air pollutants (NO and PM) on new cases of asthma-associated outcomes adjusting-for host characteristics, indoor exposures and study area.
Results: The annual average concentration of PM and NO were 10.01μg/m and 16.62μg/m respectively, across the four study areas, and were below the local Standards of 20μg/m and 40μg/m, for both pollutants, respectively. In the two-pollutant-adjusted models, an interquartile range (IQR) increase of 14.2μg/m in NO was associated with an increased risk of new onset of ocular-nasal symptoms (adjusted odds ratio-aOR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.01-2.60), wheezing (aOR: 3.57, 95% CI: 1.18-10.92), more than two or more asthma symptom score (aOR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.02-2.86), and airway inflammation defined as FeNO > 35 ppb (aOR: 3.10, 95% CI: 1.10-8.71), independent of PM exposures.
Conclusion: This study provided evidence that ambient NO levels below local standards and international guidelines, independent of PM exposure, increases new cases of asthma-associated outcomes after 12-months.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109606 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Clinical remission and control in severe asthma: agreements and disagreements.
Drugs Context
September 2024
Pulmonology Unit, S. Valentino Hospital, Montebelluna (TV), AULSS2 Marca Trevigiana, Italy.
Over the last two decades, we have witnessed great advancements in our understanding of the immunological pathways of asthma, leading to the development of targeted therapies, such as biologic drugs, that have radically and definitively changed the clinical outcomes of severe asthma. Despite the numerous therapeutic options available, ~4-10% of all people with asthma have severe or uncontrolled asthma, associated with an increased risk of developing chronic oral corticosteroid use, fixed airflow limitation, exacerbations, hospitalization and, finally, increased healthcare costs. The new concept of disease modification in asthma comes from the evolution of asthma management, which encompasses phenotyping patients with different inflammatory endotypes characterizing the disease, followed by the advent of more effective therapies capable of targeting the proximal factors of airway inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOccupational exposure and new-onset asthma in the population-based Telemark study: a 5-year follow-up.
BMJ Open
September 2024
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Telemark Hospital, Skien, Norway.
Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the incidence of asthma and assess the association between job exposure matrix (N-JEM) assigned occupational exposure, self-reported occupational exposure to vapour, gas, dust and fumes (VGDF), mould, damages from moisture and cold, and new-onset asthma. We also aimed to assess the corresponding population attributable fraction (PAF) for ever exposure to VGDF.
Design: Longitudinal population-based respiratory health study.
Asthma as a risk factor and allergic rhinitis as a protective factor for COVID-19 severity: a case-control study.
Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol
December 2024
Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, SE, Brazil.
Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant global morbidity and mortality. The disease presents a broad clinical spectrum, significantly influenced by underlying comorbidities. While certain conditions are known to exacerbate COVID-19 outcomes, the role of chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as asthma and rhinitis in influencing disease severity remains controversial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLocal receptor-interacting protein kinase 2 inhibition mitigates house dust mite-induced asthma.
Eur Respir J
October 2024
Université de Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019-UMR9017-CIIL-Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de Lille, Lille, France
Background: House dust mite is the most frequent trigger of allergic asthma, with innate and adaptive immune mechanisms playing critical roles in outcomes. We recently identified the nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain 1 (NOD1)/receptor-interacting serine/threonine protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) signalling pathway as a relevant contributor to murine house dust mite-induced asthma. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacological RIPK2 inhibitor administered locally as a preventive and therapeutic approach using a house dust mite-induced asthma model in wild-type and humanised NOD1 mice harbouring an asthma-associated risk allele, and its relevance using air-liquid interface epithelial cultures from asthma patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe burden of diabetes-associated multiple long-term conditions on years of life spent and lost.
Nat Med
October 2024
NHS England, London, UK.
Diabetes mellitus is a central driver of multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs), but population-based studies have not clearly characterized the burden across the life course. We estimated the age of onset, years of life spent and loss associated with diabetes-related MLTCs among 46 million English adults. We found that morbidity patterns extend beyond classic diabetes complications and accelerate the onset of severe MLTCs by 20 years earlier in life in women and 15 years earlier in men.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!