Climate-mediated air pollution associated with COPD severity

[[abstract]]Air pollution has been reported to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our study aim was to examine the mediating effects of air pollution on climate-associated health outcomes of COPD patients. A cross-sectional study of 117 COPD patients was conducted in a hospital in Taiwan. We measured the lung function, 6-min walking distance, oxygen desaturation, white blood cell count, and percent emphysema (low attenuation area, LAA) and linked these to 0-1-, 0-3-, and 0-5-year lags of individual-level exposure to relative humidity (RH), temperature, and air pollution. Linear regression models were conducted to examine associations of temperature, RH, and air pollution with severity of health outcomes. A mediation analysis was conducted to examine the mediating effects of air pollution on the associations of RH and temperature with health outcomes. We observed that a 1 % increase in the RH was associated with increases in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)), eosinophils, and lymphocytes, and a decrease in the total-lobe LAA. A 1 °C increase in temperature was associated with decreases in oxygen desaturation, and right-, left-, and upper-lobe LAA values. Also, a 1 μg/m(3) increase in PM(2.5) was associated with a decrease in the FEV(1) and an increase in oxygen desaturation. A 1 μg/m(3) increases in PM(10) and PM(2.5) was associated with increases in the total-, right-, left, upper-, and lower-lobe (PM(2.5) only) LAA. A one part per billion increase in NO(2) was associated with a decrease in the FEV(1) and an increase in the upper-lobe LAA. Next, we found that NO(2) fully mediated the association between RH and FEV(1). We found PM(2.5) fully mediated associations of temperature with oxygen saturation and total-, right-, left-, and upper-lobe LAA. In conclusion, climate-mediated air pollution increased the risk of decreasing FEV(1) and oxygen saturation and increasing emphysema severity among COPD patients. Climate change-related air pollution is an important public health issue, especially with regards to respiratory disease