Influence of personal exposure to particulate air pollution on cardiovascular physiology and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in subjects with diabetes.

Abstract

We investigated whether personal exposure to particulate matter </= 10 microm in diameter (PM10) contributes to impaired cardiovascular function and increased systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in diabetic patients. We monitored 25 patients' personal exposure to PM10 for 24 hours and then measured their heart rate, blood pressure, brachial arterial diameter, flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), plasma cytokines, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), which is an oxidative stress marker. We repeated this procedure for 7 weeks on each subject. We tested the associations using mixed-effects models. PM10 was significantly positively associated with FMD and TBARS but inversely associated with end-systolic basal brachial arterial diameter (P < 0.05). Moreover, in subjects not taking vasoactive medications, PM10 was significantly positively associated with blood pressure but inversely associated with artery flow. Elevated PM10 may contribute to oxidative stress and impaired cardiovascular function in patients with diabetes mellitus.