Study suggests air pollution is an important independent risk factor for asthma exacerbations in children living in urban areas TheLancet TheLancetPlanet BRIseattle Columbia BU_Tweets UW pollution asthma children health allergy
By Nidhi Saha, BDSJan 9 2023Reviewed by Danielle Ellis, B.Sc. A new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health reported that moderate levels of outdoor air pollutants, ozone, and fine particulate matter correlated to non-viral asthma attacks in children and adolescents who live in low-income urban areas. The study also highlighted that in non-urban areas, asthma flare-ups were more likely to occur in the absence of viral illness.
However, acute asthma episodes can also occur independently in the absence of a viral respiratory infection. Multiple epidemiological research published over the last few decades has linked air pollution concentrations to acute asthmatic attacks in humans. About the study This study aimed to determine if outdoor air pollution was associated with asthma episodes among urban children. For this, the researchers analyzed changes in airway physiology and gene expression levels during intense asthma episodes.
Using the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality index values and levels of particular air pollutants, the researchers correlated each disease with the level of specific air pollutants in a particular city––during the period when the disease was diagnosed. Thereafter, the data for city and season was modified to reduce the impact of these variables on the results.
Of note, PM2.5 increased tissue kallikreins, non-type-2 inflammatory cytokine genes, and a large set of barrier function genes in airway epithelial cells. PM2.5 levels might also increase several immune pathways in the epithelia, contributing to an asthma attack in the absence of a respiratory viral infection.
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