Longitudinal relationships of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure and genetic susceptibility with blood lipid profiles.

Abstract

We aim to analyze the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure and genetic predisposition on blood lipid through a longitudinal epidemiological study. We enrolled 4,356 observations who participated at baseline (n=2,435) and 6-year follow-up (n=1,921) from Wuhan-Zhuhai cohort. Ten urinary PAHs metabolites and blood lipid (i.e., total cholesterol [TC], triglycerides [TG], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C]) were measured at both baseline and follow-up. The polygenic risk scores (PRS) of blood lipid were constructed by the corresponding genome-wide association studies. Linear mixed models were fit to identify associations between urinary PAHs metabolites, blood lipid, and lipid-PRSs in the repeated-measure analysis. Besides, longitudinal relationships of blood lipid with urinary PAHs metabolites and respective lipid-PRSs were examined by using linear regression models. Compared with subjects who had persistently low urinary total hydroxyphenanthrene (ΣOHPh), those with persistently high levels had an average increase of 0.137mmol/l for TC and 0.129mmol/l for LDL-C over 6years. Each 1-unit increase of TC-, TG-, LDL-C-, and HDL-C-specific PRS were associated with an average increase of 0.438mmol/l for TC, 0.264mmol/l for TG, 0.198mmol/l for LDL-C, and 0.043mmol/l for HDL-C over 6years, respectively. Compared with subjects who had low genetic risk and persistently low ΣOHPh, subjects with high LDL-specific PRS and persistently high ΣOHPh had an average increase of 0.652mmol/l for LDL-C. Our results suggest that high-level ΣOHPh exposure is associated with an average increase of LDL-C over 6years, and those relationships can be aggravated by a higher LDL-C-genetic risk. No significant relationships were observed between other PAHs metabolites (including hydroxynaphthalene, hydroxyfluorene, and hydroxypyrene) and blood lipid changes over 6years. Our findings emphasize the importance of preventing PAHs exposure, particularly among those with a higher genetic predisposition of hyperlipidemia.