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BackgroundNitrogen dioxide (NO2) is one of the main air pollutants, and though China's NO2 pollution has been improving year by year, it maintains at a high level, threatening the health of the population. ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 on the coagulation indexes in obese and normal-weight young individuals and potential modification effect of temperature. MethodsBased on a parallel control panel study design, this study recruited 53 normal-weight and 44 obese young individuals. Three prospective follow-ups were conducted. Air pollution data were obtained from the fixed monitoring station closest to the participant's residences, and personal air pollution exposure was simulated based on time-activity log and infiltration factor for the week before every follow-up. Temperature was collected from China Meteorological Data Service Center. Venous blood samples were taken to measure platelet (PLT) count, mean platelet volume (MPV), soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin), platelet aggregation rate (PAgT), and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) during every follow-up. A linear mixed-effect model was used to assess the association between short-term atmospheric NO2 exposure and the coagulation indexes of weight grouped young individuals, and a stratified analysis was used to explore potential modification effect of temperature. ResultsThe median [interquartile range (IQR)] of personal atmospheric NO2 exposure concentrations was 21.47 (8.01) µg·m−3. Short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 was significantly associated the increase of sCD40L and PAgT in the obese individuals, while the most significant association appeared at 5 d lag, and for each IQR increase in the average sliding exposure concentration of atmospheric NO2 with a 5 d lag, sCD40L increased by 27.4% (95%CI: 4.2%, 56.6%) and PAgT increased by 37.5% (95%CI: 12.2%, 68.6%); short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 was significantly associated with the decrease of PLT and PAgT in the normal-weight individuals, while the most significant association appeared at 5 d lag or 7 d lag, and for each IQR increase in the average sliding exposure concentration of atmospheric NO2 with a 5 d lag, PLT decreased by 11.8% (95%CI: −17.8%, −5.3%), and for each IQR increase in the average sliding exposure concentration of atmospheric NO2 with a 7 d lag, PAgT decreased by 16.8% (95%CI: −30.6%, −0.4%). We didn't find statistically significant association of short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 with PLT in the obese individuals or sCD40L in the normal-weight individuals, nor statistically significant association between short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 and PAI-1, MPV, and sP-selectin in different weight grouped individuals. The stratified analysis found that short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 was significantly associated with PAgT in the normal-weight individuals, or with PLT, sCD40L, and sP-selectin in the obese individuals only at high temperature. ConclusionsShort-term exposure to atmospheric NO2 has adverse effects on the coagulation indexes of different weight grouped young individuals, and the obese individuals are more sensitive to it than the normal-weight individuals. High temperature can enhance the adverse health effect of short-term exposure to atmospheric NO2.