1. U-shaped relationship between ozone exposure and preterm birth risk associated with preconception telomere length.
- Author
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Zhou, Guoyu, Chai, Jian, Li, Qinyang, Sun, Panpan, Wang, Yalong, Wu, Jingjing, Zhang, Junxi, Li, Yan, Dong, Wei, Zhang, Cuican, Yu, Fangfang, Yan, Xi, and Ba, Yue
- Subjects
TELOMERES ,OZONE ,AIR pollutants ,PERIODIC health examinations ,ENVIRONMENTAL monitoring ,PREMATURE labor - Abstract
There are conflicting findings regarding the association of ozone (O 3) exposure with preterm birth (PTB) occurrence. In the present study, two cohorts were combined to explore the relationship between maternal O 3 exposure during pregnancy and PTB risk, and analyze the underlying mechanisms of this relationship in terms of alterations in the preconception telomere length. Cohort 1 included mothers who participated in the National Free Preconception Health Examination Project in Henan Province from 2014 to 2018 along with their newborns (n = 1,066,696). Cohort 2 comprised mothers who conceived between 2016 and 2018 and their newborns (n = 1871) from six areas in Henan Province. The telomere length was assessed in the peripheral blood of mothers at the preconception stage. Data on air pollutant concentrations were collected from environmental monitoring stations and individual exposures were assessed using an inverse distance-weighted model. O 3 concentrations (100.60 ± 14.13 μg/m
3 ) were lower in Cohort 1 than in Cohort 2 (114.09 ± 15.17 μg/m3 ). Linear analyses showed that PTB risk decreased with increasing O 3 exposure concentrations in Cohort 1 but increased with increasing O 3 exposure concentrations in Cohort 2. Nonlinear analyses revealed that PTB risk tended to decrease and then increase with increasing O 3 exposure concentrations in both cohorts. Besides, PTB risk was reduced by 88% for each-unit increase in telomere length in those exposed to moderate O 3 concentrations (92.4–123.7 μg/m3 , P < 0.05). While no significant association was observed between telomere length and PTB at extreme O 3 concentration exposure during entire pregnancy (<92.4 or >123.7 μg/m3 , P > 0.05) in Cohort 2. These findings reveal a nonlinear (U-shaped) relationship between O 3 exposure and PTB risk. Furthermore, telomere with elevated length was associated with decreased risk of PTB only when exposed to moderate concentrations of O 3 , but not when exposed to extreme concentrations of O 3 during pregnancy. [Display omitted] • There was a U-shaped relationship between O 3 exposure and preterm birth (PTB) risk. • In the moderate range, O 3 did not have a positive association with PTB risk. • Telomere length was involved in the U-shaped relationship between O 3 and PTB. • Telomere length was associated with decreased PTB risk for moderate O 3 exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2024
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