Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Serum Leptin in Older Adults

Abstract

Objective Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution has been linked to increased risk of obesity and diabetes and may be associated with higher serum levels of the adipokine leptin, but this hypothesis has not been previously evaluated in humans. Methods In a cohort of older adults, we estimated the association between serum leptin concentrations and two markers of long-term exposure to traffic pollution, adjusting for participant characteristics, temporal trends, socioeconomic factors, and medical history. Results An interquartile range increase (0.11 µg/m3) in annual mean residential black carbon was associated with 12% (95% CI: 3%, 22%) higher leptin levels. Leptin levels were not associated with residential distance to major roadway. Conculsions If confirmed, these findings support the emerging evidence suggesting that certain sources of traffic pollution may be associated with adverse cardiometabolic effects.

Mexico City normal weight children exposed to high concentrations of ambient PM2.5 show high blood leptin and endothelin-1, vitamin D deficiency, and food reward hormone dysregulation versus low pollution controls. Relevance for obesity and Alzheimer disease

“…Strong and consistent evidence supports a link between oxidative stress, abnormal lipid, glucose and insulin metabolism and Alzheimer's disease (Nunomura et al, 2012;De la Monte, 2014;Castellani and Perry, 2014;Bonda et al, 2014aBonda et al, , 2014bButterfield et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2014aWang et al, , 2014b. In the setting of severe air pollution or in experimental models exposed to air pollution components (Levesque et al, 2011a(Levesque et al, , 2011b, the notion that AD is indicative of an active host response or environmental adaptation (Castellani and Perry, 2014), is biologically plausible and thus metabolic derangements involving inflammatory adipokines, insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction in urban children are representing a vicious downward spiral involving the interactions between air pollutants, oxidative stress, genetics, and nutritional deficiencies.…”

Ambient Air Pollution and 16-Year Weight Change in African-American Women

“…In a cross-sectional study of serum leptin levels in adults, there was a small association between black carbon exposure and serum leptin levels, but only when one of multiple modeling strategies was used. 15 …”

“…14 The effect decreased as children neared adolescence. A small cross-sectional study of adults in Boston 15 found an association between serum leptin levels, a correlate with body fat content, and black carbon levels.…”

Environmental factors in cardiovascular disease

“…34 Ambient levels of pollutants have been associated with BMI, 35 prevalent and incident diabetes, [36][37][38] and cardiometabolic measures such as insulin resistance and levels of serum leptin. 39 Whether individuals with existing diabetes 40 or metabolic syndrome 41 are more susceptible to the effects of air pollution than those unaffected by these conditions remains uncertain. 24,42 Effects of short-term exposure Short-term increases in urban air pollution are also associated with elevated mortality and morbidity ( Figure 4).…”