| Title: | Synergistic effects of genetic susceptibility and air pollution on cardiovascular disease |
| Journal: | American Journal of Preventive Cardiology |
| Published: | 11 Dec 2025 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41509674/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpc.2025.101381 |
Publication 18778
WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
Background: Although both genetic susceptibility and air pollution are established risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), evidence for their interaction, particularly on the additive scale, remains limited and inconclusive. We aimed to investigate the individual and joint effects of long-term exposure to air pollutants and polygenic risk on incident CVD.</p>
Methods: In a prospective cohort of 460,572 participants from the UK Biobank, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for CVD associated with particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitrogen oxides (NO X ) using Cox models. A polygenic risk score (PRS) for CVD was constructed, and additive and multiplicative interactions between PRS and air pollution were assessed.</p>
Results: Over a median follow-up of 11.92 years, 48,690 incident CVD cases occurred. Both a higher genetic risk and increased air pollution exposure were independently associated with elevated CVD risk. Notably, a significant synergistic effect was observed. Compared to participants with low genetic risk and low pollution exposure, those with high genetic risk and high exposure faced the greatest hazard, with HRs of 1.76 (1.68-1.84) for PM2.5, 1.74 (1.66-1.83) for PM10, 1.82 (1.73-1.91) for NO2, and 1.81 (1.73-1.90) for NO x . These associations persisted at concentrations below WHO air quality guidelines and were robust across a series of sensitivity analyses.</p>
Conclusions: Our findings call for a reevaluation of air quality standards and indicate that genetic profiling could identify subpopulations that would derive the greatest benefit from air pollution mitigation strategies.</p>
13 Authors
- Yun-Jiu Cheng
- Li-Juan Liu
- Su-Hua Wu
- Li-Chun Wang
- Hai Deng
- Hui-Qiang Wei
- Wei-Dong Lin
- Xian-Hong Fang
- Yi-Jian Liao
- Shu-Lin Wu
- Yu-Mei Xue
- Yue-Dong Ma
- Yang Wu
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 121022 | Association between early repolarization and cardiovascular outcomes and metabolic outcomes |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health