Hina Riaz, Binafsha Manzoor Syed, Zulfiqar Laghari.
Evaluation of the effects of air pollution on serum inflammatory markers in young adults.
Isra Med J Jan ;11(6):454-7.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of exposure of air pollution (traffic pollutants) on markers of inflammation in apparently healthy vehicles drivers (high exposure) and compare it with (less exposed) students and to evaluate correlation with the duration of exposure of traffic pollution. Study Design: cross sectional (Descriptive) study. Place and Duration: This study conducted in Physiology department of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) from 3rd February to 5th December 2017. Methodology: This study evaluated the effects of traffic pollution in markers of inflammation markers including C-reactive protein (CRP), Leukocytes count, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrotic factor-? (TNF-?) and tumor necrotic factor-? (TNF-?) of apparently healthy volunteers. One hundred seventy-four (174) non-smoking, apparently healthy automobile vehicle drivers (high exposed group, n=87) and the same number of hostel resident students (less exposed group, n=87) were recruited for this study, their serum inflammatory markers were compared. Further automobile vehicle drivers categorized into five groups according to their duration of exposure by using 5-year cut-off. Results: Levels of inflammatory markers including IL-6 (p < 0.001), TNF-? (p < 0.021), Leukocytes (p < 0.03), Neutrophils (p < 0.001), Eosinophils (p < 0.001), Basophils (p < 0.001) and CRP (p < 0.001), were significantly higher among drivers group than student`s groups. TNF-?, TNF-?, IL-6, CRP, neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils and monocytes were positively correlated with duration of driving exposure. While total leukocytes did not show any significant correlation. Conclusion: Exposure to traffic pollutants causes rise in the circulatory markers of inflammation in healthy volunteers.

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