Exposure to moderate air pollution during late pregnancy and cord blood cytokine secretion in healthy neonates

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 6; no. 8; p. e23130
• Main Authors: Latzin, Philipp, Frey, Urs, Armann, Jakob, Kieninger, Elisabeth, Fuchs, Oliver, Röösli, Martin, Schaub, Bianca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03-08-2011; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air Pollution - adverse effects; Air pollution control; Air pollution measurements; Air Pollution, Indoor - adverse effects; Allergies; Analysis; Asthma; Atmospheric pollution; Biological products; Biology; Blood; Chemistry; Chemokine CCL2 - metabolism; Chemokines; Children & youth; Cohort analysis; Cord blood; Cytokines; Earth Sciences; Electromagnetism; Exposure; Fatty acids; Female; Fetal Blood - metabolism; Fetuses; Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor - metabolism; Health care; Hospitals; Humans; Immune system; Indoor air; Indoor air pollution; Indoor environments; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 6; Interleukin-10 - metabolism; Interleukin-6 - metabolism; Lung diseases; Maternal Exposure - adverse effects; Medicine; Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1; Neonates; Newborn babies; Newborn infants; Nitrogen dioxide; Outdoor air quality; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution levels; Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Prenatal experience; Prenatal exposure; Regression analysis; Respiratory diseases; Smoking; Studies; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Switzerland; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023130

Ambient air pollution can alter cytokine concentrations as shown in vitro and following short-term exposure to high air pollution levels in vivo. Exposure to pollution during late pregnancy has been shown to affect fetal lymphocytic immunophenotypes. However, effects of prenatal exposure to moderate levels of air pollutants on cytokine regulation in cord blood of healthy infants are unknown.
In a birth cohort of 265 healthy term-born neonates, we assessed maternal exposure to particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 µm or less (PM₁₀), as well as to indoor air pollution during the last trimester, specifically the last 21, 14, 7, 3 and 1 days of pregnancy. As a proxy for traffic-related air pollution, we determined the distance of mothers' homes to major roads. We measured cytokine and chemokine levels (MCP-1, IL-6, IL-10, IL-1ß, TNF-α and GM-CSF) in cord blood serum using LUMINEX technology. Their association with pollution levels was assessed using regression analysis, adjusted for possible confounders.
Mean (95%-CI) PM₁₀ exposure for the last 7 days of pregnancy was 18.3 (10.3-38.4 µg/m³). PM₁₀ exposure during the last 3 days of pregnancy was significantly associated with reduced IL-10 and during the last 3 months of pregnancy with increased IL-1ß levels in cord blood after adjustment for relevant confounders. Maternal smoking was associated with reduced IL-6 levels. For the other cytokines no association was found.
Our results suggest that even naturally occurring prenatal exposure to moderate amounts of indoor and outdoor air pollution may lead to changes in cord blood cytokine levels in a population based cohort.