Approved Research

Associations of air pollutants exposure and metabolic and genetic changes in chronic rhinosinusitis and allergic rhinitis

Lay summary

Aim: We hope to explore the effects of air pollutants exposure on the level of metabolism and gene expression in  chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and allergic rhinitis (AR) patients by using the large-sample cohort omics data of UK Biobank

Scientific rationale: Ambient air pollution exposure remains a major public health threat worldwide and numerous studies have associated air pollution with increased risks of CRS and AR on an epidemiological level. Limited previous studies have demonstrated metabolic alterations and sequence variants in CRS and AR patients but upstream factors are not further explored. In studies on lower respiratory diseases such as asthma, exposure to air pollutants has been shown to affect peripheral blood metabolism and cause differential gene expression in patients. The evidence on relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and metabolism and genetic alterations in CRS and AR remains lacking. This study will help us to have a deeper understanding of the specific mechanism of occurrence and development in AR and CRS, and provide a new insight for future disease challenges.

Project duration: 36 months

Public health impact: Nasal inflammation diseases significantly affects people's health, and air pollution is a major risk factor for these diseases. Exploring concrete mechanisms of air pollutants mediated the disease occurrence and development in multi-aspects can not only help us to more in-depth understanding of the disease but also can offer new evidence for global air pollution prevention and control, also help to make more rational health policy. At the same time, this research can also find new targets for disease intervention and provide a new direction for disease treatment.