一项新的研究表明，早期暴露在肮脏的空气中会改变基因，从而导致成人心脏病和其他疾病。这些发现可能会改变医学专家和家长对儿童呼吸空气的看法，并为临床干预提供信息。
Children exposed to air pollution, such as wildfire smoke and car exhaust, for as little as one day may be doomed to higher rates of heart disease and other ailments in adulthood, according to a new Stanford-led study. The analysis, published in Nature Scientific Reports, is the first of its kind to investigate air pollution's effects at the single cell level and to simultaneously focus on both the cardiovascular and immune systems in children. It confirms previous research that bad air can alter gene regulation in a way that may impact long-term health -- a finding that could change the way medical experts and parents think about the air children breathe, and inform clinical interventions for those exposed to chronic elevated air pollution.
根据斯坦福大学的一项新研究，暴露在空气污染中的儿童，比如野火烟雾和汽车废气中，仅仅一天就可能注定在成年后患心脏病和其他疾病的几率更高。这项发表在《自然科学报告》上的分析，是首次在单细胞水平上调查空气污染的影响，同时关注儿童的心血管和免疫系统。它证实了先前的研究，即糟糕的空气可以改变基因调节，从而可能影响长期健康——这一发现可能会改变医学专家和家长对儿童呼吸空气的看法，并为那些长期暴露在高浓度空气污染中的人提供临床干预措施。
"I think this is compelling enough for a pediatrician to say that we have evidence air pollution causes changes in the immune and cardiovascular system associated not only with asthma and respiratory diseases, as has been shown before," said study lead author Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at Stanford's Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy & Asthma Research. "It looks like even brief air pollution exposure can actually change the regulation and expression of children's genes and perhaps alter blood pressure, potentially laying the foundation for increased risk of disease later in life."
斯坦福大学肖恩·N·帕克过敏与哮喘研究中心的空气污染与健康研究主任，该研究的主要作者玛丽 · 普鲁尼基说: “我认为这足以让儿科医生说，我们有证据表明，空气污染不仅与哮喘和呼吸系统疾病有关，而且还会导致免疫系统和心血管系统的变化”, “看起来，即使是短暂的空气污染，实际上也能改变儿童基因的调节和表达，甚至可能改变血压，可能为日后患病风险的增加奠定基础。”
The researchers studied a predominantly Hispanic group of children ages 6-8 in Fresno, California, a city beset with some of the country's highest air pollution levels due to industrial agriculture and wildfires, among other sources. Using a combination of continuous daily pollutant concentrations measured at central air monitoring stations in Fresno, daily concentrations from periodic spatial sampling and meteorological and geophysical data, the study team estimated average air pollution exposures for 1 day, 1 week and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months prior to each participant visit. When combined with health and demographics questionnaires, blood pressure readings and blood samples, the data began to paint a troubling picture.
研究人员研究了加利福尼亚州弗雷斯诺市的一个主要由6-8岁的西班牙裔儿童组成的群体。这个城市因工业化农业和野火等原因，遭受了美国最严重的空气污染。利用在弗雷斯诺中央空气监测站测量的连续每日污染物浓度、周期性空间采样的每日浓度以及气象和地球物理数据，研究小组在每个参与者访问之前估计了1天、1周和1个月、3个月、6个月和12个月的平均空气污染暴露。结合健康和人口统计学调查问卷、血压读数和血液样本，这些数据开始描绘出一幅令人不安的画面。
The researchers used a form of mass spectrometry to analyze immune system cells for the first time in a pollution study. The approach allowed for more sensitive measurements of up to 40 cell markers simultaneously, providing a more in-depth analysis of pollution exposure impacts than previously possible.
在一项污染研究中，研究人员首次使用质谱法分析法来分析免疫系统细胞。这种方法允许同时对多达40个细胞标记进行更为敏感的测量，从而比以前可能对污染接触的影响进行更为深入的分析。
Among their findings: Exposure to fine particulate known as PM2.5, carbon monoxide and ozone over time is linked to increased methylation, an alteration of DNA molecules that can change their activity without changing their sequence. This change in gene expression may be passed down to future generations. The researchers also found that air pollution exposure correlates with an increase in monocytes, white blood cells that play a key role in the buildup of plaques in arteries, and could possibly predispose children to heart disease in adulthood. Future studies are needed to verify the long-term implications.
在他们的发现中: 暴露在被称为 PM2.5的细颗粒物中，随着时间的推移，一氧化碳和臭氧与甲基化的增加有关，甲基化是一种 DNA 分子的改变，可以在不改变其序列的情况下改变其活性。这种基因表达的变化可能会遗传给下一代。研究人员还发现，空气污染与单核细胞增多有关，单核细胞是在动脉斑块形成中起关键作用的白细胞，可能使儿童在成年时易患心脏病。未来的研究需要验证其长期影响。
Hispanic children bear an unequal burden of health ailments, especially in California, where they are exposed to higher traffic-related pollution levels than non-Hispanic children. Among Hispanic adults, prevalence for uncontrolled hypertension is greater compared with other races and ethnicities in the U.S., making it all the more important to determine how air pollution will affect long-term health risks for Hispanic children.
西班牙裔儿童在健康疾病方面承受的负担不平等，尤其是在加利福尼亚州，他们比非西班牙裔儿童暴露在更高的交通污染水平。在西班牙裔成年人中，与美国其他种族和民族相比，不受控制的高血压患病率更高，因此确定空气污染将如何影响西班牙裔儿童的长期健康风险就显得尤为重要。
Overall, respiratory diseases are killing more Americans each year, and rank as the second most common cause of deaths globally.
总的来说，呼吸系统疾病每年导致更多的美国人死亡，并成为全球第二大最常见的死亡原因。
"This is everyone's problem," said study senior author Kari Nadeau, director of the Parker Center. "Nearly half of Americans and the vast majority of people around the world live in places with unhealthy air. Understanding and mitigating the impacts could save a lot of lives."
“这是每个人的问题，说:”研究资深作者卡里纳多，主任帕克中心。“近一半的美国人和全世界绝大多数人生活在空气不健康的地方。了解并减轻这些影响可以挽救许多生命。”
Nadeau is also the Naddisy Foundation Professor in Pediatric Food Allergy, Immunology, and Asthma, professor of medicine and of pediatrics and, by courtesy, of otolaryngology at the Stanford School of Medicine, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Co-authors of the study include Justin Lee, a graduate student in epidemiology and population health; Xiaoying Zhou, a research scientist at the Parker Center; Hesam Movassagh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Parker Center during the research; Manisha Desai, a professor of biomedical informatics research and biomedical data science; and Joseph Wu, director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology; and researchers from the University of Leuven; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, San Francisco; and Sonoma Technology.
纳多还是纳迪西基金会儿科食物过敏、免疫学和哮喘教授，斯坦福医学院耳鼻喉科教授，斯坦福伍兹环境研究所高级研究员。这项研究的共同作者包括: 流行病学和人口健康专业的研究生 Justin Lee; Parker Center 的研究员 Zhou Xiaoying; 研究期间在 Parker Center 的博士后研究员 Hesam movasagh; 生物医学信息学研究和生物医学数据科学的教授 Manisha Desai; 斯坦福心血管研究所和医学和放射学教授 Simon h. Stertzer 的主任 Joseph Wu; 荷语天主教鲁汶大学的研究人员; 加州大学伯克利分校; 加州大学旧金山分校; 以及 Sonoma 科技。