Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Genetic and epigenetic susceptibility of airway inflammation to PM2.5 in school children: new insights from quantile regression.

Authors: Zhang, Yue; Salam, Muhammad T; Berhane, Kiros; Eckel, Sandrah P; Rappaport, Edward B; Linn, William S; Habre, Rima; Bastain, Theresa M; Gilliland, Frank D

Published In Environ Health, (2017 Aug 18)

Abstract: The fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a biomarker of airway inflammation that has proved to be useful in investigations of genetic and epigenetic airway susceptibility to ambient air pollutants. For example, susceptibility to airway inflammation from exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < =2.5 μm (PM2.5) varies by haplotypes and promoter region methylation in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS encoded by NOS2). We hypothesized that PM2.5 susceptibility associated with these epigenetic and genetic variants may be greater in children with high FeNO from inflamed airways. In this study, we investigated genetic and epigenetic susceptibility to airborne particulate matter by examining whether the joint effects of PM2.5, NOS2 haplotypes and iNOS promoter methylation significantly vary across the distribution of FeNO in school children.The study included 940 school children in the southern California Children's Health Study who provided concurrent buccal samples and FeNO measurements. We used quantile regression to examine susceptibility by estimating the quantile-specific joint effects of PM2.5, NOS2 haplotype and methylation on FeNO.We discovered striking differences in susceptibility to PM2.5 in school children. The joint effects of short-term PM2.5 exposure, NOS2 haplotypes and methylation across the FeNO distribution were significantly larger in the upper tail of the FeNO distribution, with little association in its lower tail, especially among children with asthma and Hispanic white children.School-aged children with higher FeNO have greater genetic and epigenetic susceptibility to PM2.5, highlighting the importance of investigating effects across the entire distribution of FeNO.

PubMed ID: 28821285 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication

Back
to Top