Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 146, April 2016, Pages 274-281
Environmental Research

MicroRNAs are associated with blood-pressure effects of exposure to particulate matter: Results from a mediated moderation analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.01.010Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • We investigated whether the effects of PM10 on BP are mediated by microRNAs.

  • PM10 exposure was associated with increased systolic and diastolic BP.

  • Nine blood miRNAs were associated with PM10 levels 48 h after exposure.

  • miR-101 mediated the effects of particle exposure on diastolic BP.

Abstract

Aims

Exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with increased blood pressure (BP), a well-established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying this relationship, we investigated whether the effects of particulate matter of less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) on BP are mediated by microRNAs.

Methods and results

We recruited 90 obese individuals and we assessed their PM10 exposure 24 and 48 h before the recruitment day. We performed multivariate linear regression models to investigate the effects of PM10 on BP. Using the TaqMan® Low-Density Array, we experimentally evaluated and technically validated the expression levels of 377 human miRNAs in peripheral blood. We developed a mediated moderation analysis to estimate the proportion of PM10 effects on BP that was mediated by miRNA expression.

PM10 exposure 24 and 48 h before the recruitment day was associated with increased systolic BP (β=1.22 mmHg, P=0.019; β=1.24 mmHg, P=0.019, respectively) and diastolic BP (β=0.67 mmHg, P=0.044; β=0.91 mmHg, P=0.007, respectively). We identified nine miRNAs associated with PM10 levels 48 h after exposure. A conditional indirect effect (CIE=−0.1431) of PM10 on diastolic BP, which was mediated by microRNA-101, was found in individuals with lower values of mean body mass index.

Conclusions

Our data provide evidence that miRNAs are a molecular mechanism underlying the BP-related effects of air pollution exposure, and indicate miR-101 as epigenetic mechanism to be further investigated.

Abbreviations

CVD
Cardiovascular disease
BP
Blood pressure
PM
Particulate matter
PM10
PM of less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter
miRNAs
MicroRNAs
MI
Myocardial infarction
BMI
Body mass index
CIE
Conditional indirect effect
FARM
Flexible Air Quality Regional Model
TLDA
TaqMan Low-Density Array
FDR
False Discovery Rate
IPA
Ingenuity Pathway Analysis

keywords

Air pollution
Microrna
Blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease
Obesity

Cited by (0)