Association between greenness and dyslipidemia in patients with coronary heart disease: A proteomic approach.

Background: Residential surrounding greenness may be protective of dyslipidemia are often theorized but remain poorly quantified. In particular, the underlying biological mechanisms of blood lipid changes with green spaces remain unclear.

Methods: Our observational epidemiology study included a residentially stable sample of 1035 coronary heart disease patients, and proteomics study included 16 participants. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used to evaluate residential greenness exposures. Proteomics technology was used to identify plasma greenness-related proteome disturbance, and the pathway analysis was employed to evaluate the potential biological mechanisms of greenness decreasing dyslipidemia risk.

Result: Higher residential surrounding greenness in the 500-m area was associated with lower risks of dyslipidemia (odds ratio (OR) = 0.871, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.763, 0.994 for per one-quartile NDVI increase). Lymphocytes mediated 18.7% of the association between greenness and dyslipidemia. Greenness related proteins (including PLXDC1, IGFBP2 and LY6D) may regulate the biological functions of lipid metabolism and transport-related proteins (including ADIPOQ and CES1) through a series of biological processes.

Conclusion: People in greener surroundings have a lower risk of dyslipidemia, which may be due to their lower inflammation, stronger lipid transporter activity, and normal cholesterol metabolism.