Air pollution and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease in patients with diabetes: An exposure-response analysis

Abstract

Impact of air pollution on incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) in diabetic patients is insufficiently studied. We aimed to examine exposure-response associations of PM2.5, PM10, PM2.5–10, NO2, and NOX with incident CKD in diabetic patients in the UK. We also widened exposure level of PM2.5 and examined PM2.5-CKD association in diabetic patients across the entire range of global concentration. Based on data from UK biobank cohort, we applied Cox proportional hazards models and the shape constrained health impact function to investigate the associations between air pollutants and incident CKD in diabetic patients. Global exposure mortality model was applied to combine the PM2.5-CKD association in diabetic patients in the UK with all other published associations. Multiple air pollutants were positively associated with incident CKD in diabetic patients in the UK, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 1.034 (95 %CI: 1.015–1.053) and 1.021 (95 %CI: 1.007–1.036) for every 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and PM10 concentration, and 1.113 (95 %CI: 1.053–1.177) and 1.058 (95 %CI: 1.027–1.091) for every 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 and NOX concentration, respectively. For PM2.5–10, associations with CKD in diabetic patients did not reach the statistical significance. Exposure-response associations with CKD in diabetic patients showed a near-linear trend for PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and NOX in the UK, whereas PM2.5-DKD associations in the globe exhibited a non-linear increasing trend. This study supports that air pollution could significantly increase the risk of CKD onset in diabetic patients.