Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional gene suppressors and potential mediators of environmental effects. In addition to human miRNAs, viral miRNAs expressed from latent viral sequences are detectable in human cells.
Objective: In a highly exposed population in Beijing, China, we evaluated the associations of particulate air pollution exposure on blood miRNA profiles.
Methods: The Beijing Truck Driver Air Pollution Study (BTDAS) included 60 truck drivers and 60 office workers. We investigated associations of short-term air pollution exposure, using measures of personal PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm) and elemental carbon (EC), and ambient PM10 (≤ 10 μm), with blood NanoString nCounter miRNA profiles at two exams separated by 1–2 weeks.
Results: No miRNA was significantly associated with personal PM2.5 at a false discovery rate (FDR) of 20%. Short-term ambient PM10 was associated with the expression of 12 miRNAs in office workers only (FDR < 20%). Short-term EC was associated with differential expression of 46 human and 7 viral miRNAs, the latter including 3 and 4 viral miRNAs in office workers and truck drivers, respectively. EC-associated miRNAs differed between office workers and truck drivers with significant effect modification by occupational group. Functional interaction network analysis suggested enriched cellular proliferation/differentiation pathways in truck drivers and proinflammation pathways in office workers.
Conclusions: Short-term EC exposure was associated with the expression of human and viral miRNAs that may influence immune responses and other biological pathways. Associations between EC exposure and viral miRNA expression suggest that latent viral miRNAs are potential mediators of air pollution–associated health effects. PM2.5/PM10 exposures showed no consistent relationships with miRNA expression.
1Department of Preventive Medicine, and 2Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; 3Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 4Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and Barupal Research Foundation, Jaisalmer, India; 5Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA; 6Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA; 7Department of Safety Engineering, China Institute of Industrial Health, Beijing, China; 8Center for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala; 9Center of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Milan and IRCCS Maggiore Policlinico Hospital, Mangiagalli and Regina Elena Foundation, Milan, Italy; 10Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
Recommended Citation:
Lifang Hou,1,2* Jitendra Barupal,et al. Particulate Air Pollution Exposure and Expression of Viral and Human MicroRNAs in Blood: The Beijing Truck Driver Air Pollution Study[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2016-01-01,Volume 124(Issue 3):344