Association of systemic inflammation and coagulation biomarkers with source-specific PM<sub>2.5</sub> mass concentrations among young and elderly subjects in central Tehran
Creators: name: Altuwayjiri, Abdulmalik
name: Taghvaee, Sina
name: Amirhosein Mousavi
name: Sowlat, Mohammad H.
name: Hassanvand, Mohammad Sadegh
name: Kashani, Homa
name: Faridi, Sasan
name: Yunesian, Masud
name: Naddafi, Kazem
name: Constantinos Sioutas
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Biotechnology
subject: 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer

description: In this study, we investigated the association between short-term exposure to different sources of fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) and biomarkers of coagulation and inflammation in two different panels of elderly and healthy young individuals in central Tehran. Five biomarkers, including white blood cells (WBC), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), tumor necrosis factor-soluble receptor-II (sTNF-RII), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were analyzed in the blood samples drawn every 8 weeks from the subjects between May 2012 and May 2013. The studied populations consisted of 44 elderly individuals at a retirement home as well as 40 young adults residing at a school dormitory. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF)-resolved source-specific PM<sub>2.5</sub> mass concentrations and biomarker levels were used as the input to the linear mixed-effects regression model to evaluate the impact of exposure to previously identified PM sources at retirement home and school dormitory in two time lag configurations: lag 1–3 (1–3 days before the blood sampling), and lag 4–6 (4–6 days before the blood sampling). Our analysis of the elderly revealed positive associations of all biomarkers (except hsCRP) with particles of secondary origin in both time lags, further corroborating the toxicity of secondary aerosols formed by photochemical processing in central Tehran. Moreover, industrial emissions, and road dust particles were positively associated with WBC, sTNF-RII, and IL-6 among seniors, while vehicular emissions exhibited positive associations with all biomarkers in either first- or second-time lag. In contrast, most of the PM<sub>2.5</sub> sources showed insignificant associations with biomarkers of inflammation in the panel of healthy young subjects. Therefore, findings from this study indicated that various PM<sub>2.5</sub> sources increase the levels of inflammation and coagulation biomarkers, although the strength and significance of these associations vary depending on the type of PM sources, demographic characteristics, and differ across the different time lags. <i>Implications</i>: Tehran, the capital of Iran with a population of more than 9 million people, has been facing serious air pollution challenges as a result of extensive vehicular, and industrial activities in the previous years. Among various air pollutants in Tehran, fine particulate matters (PM<sub>2.5</sub>, particles with aerodynamic diameters &lt; 2.5 µm) are known as one of the most important critical pollutants, causing several adverse health impacts including lung cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular, and cardiopulmonary diseases. Therefore, a number of studies in the area have tried to investigate the adverse health impacts of exposure to PM<sub>2.5</sub>. However, no studies have ever been conducted in Tehran to examine the association between specific PM<sub>2.5</sub> sources and biomarkers of coagulation and systemic inflammation as indicators of cardiovascular disorders. Indeed, this is the first study in the area investigating the association of source-specific PM<sub>2.5</sub> with biomarkers of inflammation including white blood cells (WBC), high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), tumor necrosis factor-soluble receptor-II (sTNF-RII), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and von Willebrand factor (vWF). Our results have important implications for policy makers in identifying the most toxic sources of PM<sub>2.5</sub>, and in turn designing schemes for mitigating adverse health impacts of air pollution in Tehran.