Acute exposure to air pollution is associated with novel changes in blood levels of endothelin-1 and circulating angiogenic cells in young, healthy adults

Acute and chronic exposures to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) air pollution increase the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). A hypothesized mechanism linking PM(2.5) exposure and CVD is the induction of endothelial dysfunction - a key step to increased CVD risk. Although PM(2.5) exposure is associated with endothelial dysfunction and the vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1) is upregulated in endothelial dysfunction, the effects of PM(2.5) on ET-1 and whether or not ET-1 mediates the downstream effects of PM(2.5) are unclear. In addition to examining associations between acute changes in ambient PM(2.5) and circulating levels of ET-1, we also looked at whether changes in ET-1 were associated with changes in markers of vascular health and systemic injury. For example, endothelial function is maintained in part by circulating angiogenic cell (CAC)-mediated repair, and our recent studies show that CACs in humans and mice are decreased by ambient PM(2.5) exposure. In the current study, we recruited young, healthy adults who were exposed to natural variations in PM(2.5), and we analyzed associations between PM(2.5) and circulating levels of ET-1, between ET-1 and CACs, and between ET-1 and other biomarkers of injury using linear regression analyses. Surprisingly, ET-1 levels were negatively associated with PM(2.5) levels (β = −0.773, P = 0.0005), yet, in contrast, positively associated with two CACs: CAC-2 (CD31(+)/CD34(+)/CD45(+)) and CAC-4 (CD31(+)/CD34(+)/CD45(+)/CD133(+)). Interestingly, ET-1 levels were negatively associated with some biomarkers (platelet factor 4, β = −0.148, P = 0.0003; triglycerides, β = −0.095, P = 0.041) and positively with other biomarkers: albumin (β = 0.035, P = 0.006) and IL-lβ (β = 0.082, P = 0.012). These findings further reveal the insidious nature of PI(2.5)’s anti-angiogenic effect including a novel relationship between ET-1 and CACs in young adults exposed to acute elevations of air pollution.