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Air pollutants, genetic susceptibility and the risk of schizophrenia: large prospective study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2024

Run Liu ,
Dankang Li ,
Yudiyang Ma ,
Lingxi Tang ,
Ruiqi Chen  and
Yaohua Tian Open the ORCID record for Yaohua Tian [Opens in a new window]
Run Liu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; and Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Dankang Li
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; and Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Yudiyang Ma
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; and Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Lingxi Tang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; and Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Ruiqi Chen*
Affiliation:
Department of Orthopedics, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China; and Hunan Key Laboratory of Tumor Models and Individualized Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
Yaohua Tian
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; and Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
*
Correspondence: Ruiqi Chen. Email: chenruiqi@csu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Background

Evidence linking air pollutants and the risk of schizophrenia remains limited and inconsistent, and no studies have investigated the joint effect of air pollutant exposure and genetic factors on schizophrenia risk.

Aims

To investigate how exposure to air pollution affects schizophrenia risk and the potential effect modification of genetic susceptibility.

Method

Our study was conducted using data on 485 288 participants from the UK Biobank. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the schizophrenia risk as a function of long-term air pollution exposure presented as a time-varying variable. We also derived the schizophrenia polygenic risk score (PRS) utilising data provided by the UK Biobank, and investigated the modification effect of genetic susceptibility.

Results

During a median follow-up period of 11.9 years, 417 individuals developed schizophrenia (mean age 55.57 years, s.d. = 8.68; 45.6% female). Significant correlations were observed between long-term exposure to four air pollutants (PM2.5; PM10; nitrogen oxides, NOx; nitrogen dioxide, NO2) and the schizophrenia risk in each genetic risk group. Interactions between genetic factors and the pollutants NO2 and NOx had an effect on schizophrenia events. Compared with those with low PRS and low air pollution, participants with high PRS and high air pollution had the highest risk of incident schizophrenia (PM2.5: hazard ratio = 6.25 (95% CI 5.03–7.76); PM10: hazard ratio = 7.38 (95% CI 5.86–9.29); NO2: hazard ratio = 6.31 (95% CI 5.02–7.93); NOx: hazard ratio = 6.62 (95% CI 5.24–8.37)).

Conclusions

Long-term exposure to air pollutants was positively related to the schizophrenia risk. Furthermore, high genetic susceptibility could increase the effect of NO2 and NOx on schizophrenia risk.

Keywords

Air pollutionschizophreniagenetic susceptibilityinteractioncohort study
Type
Original Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , First View , pp. 1 - 9
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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