Air Pollution and Diet: Potential Interacting Exposures in Asthma

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Immunology
• Nutritional Science

Background:

• Asthma management benefits from precise phenotyping and endotyping.
• Air pollution triggers airway inflammation via oxidative stress and immune responses.
• Neutrophil recruitment and activation are key but understudied in pollutant-induced asthma.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review emerging literature on diet's impact on asthma's respiratory response to air pollution.
• To explore diet as a potential intervention for pollutant-induced lung injury.

Main Methods:

• Review of in vivo and in vitro studies on dietary components and airway inflammation.
• Analysis of murine models investigating dietary impacts on air pollution response.
• Examination of mechanisms including oxidative stress and neutrophil function.

Main Results:

• Dietary components (fiber, antioxidants, omega-3s) show potential to mitigate airway inflammation in animal models.
• Diet may modulate neutrophil recruitment and function in response to air pollution.
• Emerging evidence suggests diet influences the respiratory system's reaction to environmental pollutants.

Conclusions:

• Diet modification is a promising, yet under-researched, avenue for asthma management and protection against air pollution.
• Further epidemiologic and causal research is needed to confirm diet's role, focusing on neutrophil mechanisms.
• Precision lifestyle interventions incorporating diet may become crucial for respiratory health in polluted environments.