Studies link insulin resistance to ozone exposure to interstitial lung disease

People with pre-diabetes or people with diabetes who live in ozone-contaminated areas can be at increased risk of irreversible illness with high mortality.New research published in Environmental hygiene outlook Insulin resistance and repeated ozone exposure are linked to the development of interstitial lung disease.

Our findings are especially important today as we are in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic. There are great concerns about the convergence of air pollution and the health effects of SARS-CoV-2. People with diabetes.. “

James Wagner, Lead Author and Associate Professor of Pathological Biology and Diagnostic Research at MSU Veterinary School

Ozone (a gas often referred to as “smog”) is known to exacerbate certain lung diseases, mainly upper respiratory tract diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis. However, recent epidemiology (Johannson et al. And Sesé et al.) Suggests a link between high ozone levels and adverse health effects of deep lungs, causing dyspnea due to lung limitation and stiffness.

“More than 170,000 people in the United States suffer from interstitial lung disease, and type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance have recently been suggested as risk factors for developing pulmonary fibrosis,” says Albert C. And Lois E. Jack Harkma, Professor Emeritus of the University of Dehn Endowed, said. Chair of Veterinary Medicine and Director of the MSU Institute for Environmental and Toxic Pathology and the Institute for Mobile Air.

In this study, Wagner, Harkma and their collaborators, Robert Tighe and Christina Barkauskas of Duke University School of Medicine, studied healthy mice, mild insulin-resistant mice, and prominent insulin-resistant mice. This study found a direct relationship between insulin resistance levels and the severity of lung inflammation and scarring (fibrosis). Mice prone to diabetes were particularly sensitive to inflammation and tissue remodeling caused by repeated exposure to ozone.

“Evidence suggests that ozone exposure can exacerbate pulmonary fibrosis, especially in people with diabetes,” said Tighe, a pulmonologist specializing in interstitial disease at Duke University. It was. “Especially if diabetes is poorly managed, it can be a significant comorbidity that exacerbates lung damage.”

According to Wagner, these findings are very important to public health.

“Our results suggest a causal link between prediabetes mice and ozone exposure that preferentially promotes interstitial lung disease. These mice were exposed for only 3 weeks. But cities such as Los Angeles and New York are home to millions of people, who are exposed to high levels of ozone every day. ” “Next, we need to consider the prevalence of people with prediabetes (about 33% in this country). Our findings are borderline insulin resistance or diabetes, with levels of ozone contamination. People living in high areas are at increased risk of developing interstitial lung disease. “

This study is the latest in Wagner and Harkema’s research efforts and describes prediabetes as a risk factor for multiple possible adverse reactions to air pollution. Wagner has previously shown detrimental effects on ozone-exposed prediabetic rodents’ heart rate, blood pressure, and adipose tissue inflammation (Wagner et al. And Zon et al.).

This study is the first of its kind because the authors describe exacerbated lung inflammation and remodeling from repeated short-term ozone exposure in insulin-resistant rodents that also exhibit other symptoms of type 2 diabetes. I think it belongs to. Much of this work was supported by researcher grants from the Great Lakes Integrated Environmental Research Center (GLACIER) of the Environmental Protection Agency at MSU. Contact Dr. James Wagner for more information on this study.