• Wei Liu, Linling Yu, Min Zhou, Zi Ye, Ruyi Liang, Qiyou Tan, Jiahao Song, Jixuan Ma, Dongming Wang, Bin Wang, and Weihong Chen.
• Department of Occupational & Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
• Chest. 2023 Jun 1; 163 (6): 139514091395-1409.

BackgroundToxicologic studies have reported propylene oxide (PO) exposure may harm the respiratory system, but the association between PO exposure and lung function and potential mechanism remains unclear.Research QuestionWhat is the association between PO exposure and lung function and potential mediating mechanism?Study Design And MethodsUrinary PO metabolite [N-Acetyl-S-(2-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (2HPMA)] as PO internal exposure biomarker and lung function were measured for 3,692 community residents at baseline and repeated at 3-year follow up. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between urinary 2HPMA and lung function were assessed by linear mixed model. Urinary 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine, urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin-F2α, and plasma protein carbonyls as biomarkers of oxidative DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, and protein carbonylation, respectively, were measured for all participants to explore their potential roles in 2HPMA-associated lung function decline by mediation analysis.ResultsAfter adjustment for potential covariates, each threefold increase in urinary 2HPMA was cross sectionally associated with a 26.18 mL (95% CI, -50.55 to -1.81) and a 21.83 mL (95% CI, -42.71 to -0.95) decrease in FVC and FEV1, respectively, at baseline (all P < .05). After 3 years of follow up, 2HPMA was observed to be longitudinally associated with FEV1/FVC decline. No significant interaction effect of smoking or passive smoking was observed (Pinteraction > .05), and the associations between 2HPMA and lung function indexes were persistent among participants who were not smoking and those who were not passive smoking in both baseline and follow-up evaluations. We observed urinary 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine partially mediated the associations of 2HPMA with FVC (mediation proportion, 5.48%) and FEV1 (mediation proportion, 6.81%), and plasma protein carbonyl partially mediated the association between 2HPMA and FEV1 (mediation proportion, 3.44%).InterpretationPO exposure was associated with lung function decline among community residents, and oxidative DNA damage and protein carbonylation partially mediated PO exposure-associated lung function decline. Further attention on respiratory damage caused by PO exposure is warranted.Copyright © 2022 American College of Chest Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

21 keywords...

hide…