Association Between Long-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Fasting Blood Glucose: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Increasing studies are indicating a potential association between ambient air pollution exposure and fasting blood glucose (FBG), an indicator of prediabetes and diabetes. However, there is inconsistency within the existing literature. The aim of this study was to summarize the associations of expos...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tong Wu, Yang Lan, Ge Li, Kai Wang, Yu You, Jiaqi Zhu, Lihua Ren, Shaowei Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-10-01
Series:Toxics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/12/11/792
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Increasing studies are indicating a potential association between ambient air pollution exposure and fasting blood glucose (FBG), an indicator of prediabetes and diabetes. However, there is inconsistency within the existing literature. The aim of this study was to summarize the associations of exposures to particulate matters (PMs) (with aerodynamic diameters of ≤1 μm (PM<sub>1</sub>), ≤2.5 μm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>), and ≤10 μm (PM<sub>10</sub>), respectively) and gaseous pollutants (sulfur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>) and ozone (O<sub>3</sub>)) with FBG based on the existing epidemiological research for a better understanding of the relationship between air pollution and diabetes. Up to 2 July 2024, we performed a comprehensive literature retrieval from various electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase). Random-effect and fixed-effect models were utilized to estimate the pooled percent changes (%) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Then, subgroup meta-analyses and meta-regression analyses were applied to recognize the sources of heterogeneity. There were 33 studies eligible for the meta-analysis. The results showed that for each 10 μg/m<sup>3</sup> increase in long-term exposures to PM<sub>1</sub>, PM<sub>2.5</sub>, PM<sub>10</sub>, and SO<sub>2</sub>, the pooled percent changes in FBG were 2.24% (95% CI: 0.54%, 3.96%), 1.72% (95% CI: 0.93%, 2.25%), 1.19% (95% CI: 0.41%, 1.97%), and 0.52% (95% CI:0.40%, 0.63%), respectively. Long-term exposures to ambient NO<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> were not related to alterations in FBG. In conclusion, our findings support that long-term exposures to PMs of various aerodynamic diameters and SO<sub>2</sub> are associated with significantly elevated FBG levels.
ISSN:2305-6304