Association of fine particulate matter with glucose and lipid metabolism: a longitudinal study in young adults

This study aimed to evaluate whether PM_2.5 exposure in a highly polluted area (>100 µg/m³) affects glucose and lipid metabolism in healthy adults.

We recruited 110 healthy adults in Baoding city, Hebei, China, and followed them up between 2017 and 2018. Personal air samplers were used to monitor personal PM_2.5 levels. Eight glucose and lipid metabolism parameters were quantified. We performed the linear mixed-effect models to investigate the relationships between PM_2.5 and glucose and lipid metabolism parameters. Stratified analyses were further performed according to sex and body mass index (BMI).

The concentration of PM_2.5 was the highest in spring, with a median of 232 μg/m³ and the lowest in autumn (139 μg/m³). After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that for each twofold increase in PM_2.5, the median of insulin concentration decreased by 5.89% (95% CI -10.91% to -0.58%; p<0.05), and ox-LDL increased by 6.43% (95% CI 2.21% to 10.82%; p<0.05). Stratified analyses indicated that the associations were more pronounced in females, overweight and obese participants.

Exposure to high PM_2.5 may have deleterious effects on glucose and lipid metabolism. Females, overweight and obese participants are more vulnerable.