The role of short-term air pollution and temperature on arterial stiffness in a longitudinal closed cohort of elderly individuals.

Background/aims: Our study adds to the sparse literature that examines whether arterial stiffness, related to cardiovascular risk, increases with exposure to air pollution. We assessed the associations between spatiotemporally resolved air pollutants and vascular and hemodynamic parameters in an elderly population-based in Eastern Massachusetts.
Methods: Among 397 men living in Eastern Massachusetts between 2007 and 2013, we utilized time-varying linear mixed-effects regressions to examine associations between central augmentation index (%) and central pulse pressure (mmHg) and short-term (0-7 days) exposure to air pollution concentrations (fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂ ), ozone (O ₃ )), and temperature adjusted for known cardiovascular risk factors. Central augmentation index (AIx) and pulse pressure (AP) were measured at each visit using radial artery applanation tonometry for pulse wave analysis. Each air pollutant and temperature were geocoded to the participant's residential address using validated ensemble and hybrid exposure models and gridMET predictions.
Results: We found consistent results that higher short-term PM _2.5 concentrations (0-7 day moving averages) were associated with significantly higher measures of arterial stiffness. Each 4.52 μg/m ³ interquartile range (IQR) increase in daily PM _2.5 for a 3-day moving average was associated with a 0.63% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.11, 1.15) increase in AIx and a 1.65 mmHg (95% CI: 0.42, 2.88) increase in pulse pressure. Furthermore, each 3.83 μg/m ³ IQR increase in daily PM _2.5 for a 7-day moving average was associated with a 0.57% (95% CI: -0.01, 1.14) increase in AIx and a 1.91 mmHg (95% CI: 0.54, 3.28) increase in pulse pressure. Smaller increases in AIx and AP were observed for the other short-term moving averages of PM _2.5 exposure apart from days zero and five for AIx. We found no clear association between O ₃ , NO _2, temperature, and the outcomes.
Conclusions: Short-term PM _2.5 exposure was associated with markers of arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper
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