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Updated: May 24, 2025

Measuring Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages Exposed to Carbon-Containing Particulate Matters
Published on: July 12, 2024
Independent and combined effects of long-term air pollution exposure and genetic predisposition on COVID-19 severity:
Yudiyang Ma1,2, Jianing Wang1,2, Feipeng Cui1,2
1Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Abstract:
The relationships between air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and COVID-19-related outcomes, as well as the potential interplays between air pollution and genetic susceptibility, remain largely unexplored. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess associations between long-term exposure to air pollutants and the risk of COVID-19 outcomes (infection, hospitalization, and death) in a COVID-19-naive cohort (n = 458,396). Additionally, associations between air pollutants and the risk of COVID-19 severity (hospitalization and death) were evaluated in a COVID-19 infection cohort (n = 110,216). Furthermore, this study investigated the role of host genetic susceptibility in the relationships between exposure to air pollutants and the development of COVID-19-related outcomes. Long-term exposure to air pollutants was significantly associated with an increased risk of COVID-19-related outcomes in the COVID-19 naive cohort. Similarly, in COVID-19 infection cohort, hazard ratios (HRs) for COVID-19 hospital admission were 1.23 (1.19, 1.27) for PM2.5 and 1.22 (1.17, 1.26) for PM10, whereas HRs for COVID-19 death were 1.28 (1.18, 1.39) for PM2.5 and 1.25 (1.16, 1.36) for PM10. Notably, significant interactions were found between PM2.5/PM10 and genetic susceptibility in COVID-19 death. In COVID-19 infection cohort, participants with both high genetic risk and high air pollutants exposure had 1.86- to 1.97-fold and 1.91- to 2.14-fold higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death compared to those with both low genetic risk and low air pollutants exposure. Exposure to air pollution is significantly associated with an increased burden of severe COVID-19, and air pollution-gene interactions may play a crucial role in the development of COVID-19-related outcomes.
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