Approved Research

Gut Microbiota, air pollution and Bone Health (Fracture, BMD, Arthritis)

Lay summary

Aims: This study aimed to examine relationships between air pollutants, gut microbiome, and bone healthy (including inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, fracture) .

Scientific Rationale: There is increasing evidence that long-term exposure to air pollutants affects bone metabolism and increases the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Air pollution may contribute to alterations in the composition and function of the human gut microbiome.

Method: Polygenetic risk scoring (PRS) analysis will be used to systematically explore the relationships between gut microbiota, air pollution exposure, arthritis score, body Bone Mass Density (BMD), incidence of fracture.The significant SNPs with genotype data derived from UK Biobank data set will be analyzed in this study. The gut microbiota PRS of each individual was computed from the SNP genotype data.To avoid collinearity between the air pollution exposure variables, we will perform a principal component analysis (PCA) to convert the set of related air pollution variables into a set of linearly uncorrelated main variations. PCA computed a new set of variables based on the original data, namely principal components (PCs). The PCA application allows us to identify the original variables that contribute the most to the overall variance of the data set, representing the air pollution in the entire study area.

Public health impact: This study may reveal whether exposure to air pollutants can regulate the gut microbiota and its metabolites, thereby regulating bone metabolism and affecting skeletal system diseases.

Project Duration: The duration of this project is approximately 3 years.

Public Health Impact: Understanding non-traditional risk factors of heart disease will help identify high-risk populations, for whom intensive cardiovascular risk reduction can be investigated. 

Scope extension: Limited effort has been conducted to explore the potential relationships between gut microbiota and BMD. Air pollution may contribute to alterations in the composition and function of the human gut microbiome. Animal work indicates exposure to air pollutants may alter the composition of the gut microbiota. This study aimed to examine relationships between air pollutants, gut microbiome, and bone healthy (including inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, fracture) . We also want to assess the association of nutrition, serum biomarkers, environmental exposure with bone healthy (including inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, fracture), mortality among participants with bone healthy (including inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, fracture). We also want to explore the relationship between bone healthy (including inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, fracture) and other organs (including to brain structure, brain function, heart function)