Occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust and alterations in lymphocyte subsets

Qing Lan, Roel Vermeulen, Yufei Dai, Dianzhi Ren, Wei Hu, Huawei Duan, Yong Niu, Jun Xu, Wei Fu, Kees Meliefste, Baosen Zhou, Jufang Yang, Meng Ye, Xiaowei Jia, Tao Meng, Ping Bin, Christopher Kim, Bryan A Bassig, H Dean Hosgood, Debra SilvermanYuxin Zheng, Nathaniel Rothman

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: The International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified diesel engine exhaust (DEE) as a Group I carcinogen based largely on its association with lung cancer. However, the exposure-response relationship is still a subject of debate and the underlying mechanism by which DEE causes lung cancer in humans is not well understood.

    METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study in a diesel engine truck testing facility of 54 workers exposed to a wide range of DEE (ie, elemental carbon air levels, median range: 49.7, 6.1-107.7 µg/m(3)) and 55 unexposed comparable controls.

    RESULTS: The total lymphocyte count (p=0.00044) and three of the four major lymphocyte subsets (ie, CD4+ T cells (p=0.00019), CD8+ T cells (p=0.0058) and B cells (p=0.017)) were higher in exposed versus control workers and findings were highly consistent when stratified by smoking status. In addition, there was evidence of an exposure-response relationship between elemental carbon and these end points (ptrends<0.05), and CD4+ T cell levels were significantly higher in the lowest tertile of DEE exposed workers compared to controls (p=0.012).

    CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that DEE exposure is associated with higher levels of cells that play a key role in the inflammatory process, which is increasingly being recognised as contributing to the aetiology of lung cancer.

    IMPACT: This study provides new insights into the underlying mechanism of DEE carcinogenicity.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)354-9
    Number of pages6
    JournalOccupational and Environmental Medicine
    Volume72
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Keywords

    • Adult
    • Air Pollutants, Occupational
    • B-Lymphocytes
    • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
    • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
    • Carbon
    • Carcinogens
    • Cross-Sectional Studies
    • Humans
    • Inflammation
    • Lung Neoplasms
    • Lymphocyte Subsets
    • Middle Aged
    • Motor Vehicles
    • Occupational Exposure
    • Risk Assessment
    • T-Lymphocytes
    • Vehicle Emissions

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust and alterations in lymphocyte subsets'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this