Scientists reveal that short -term inhalation of ozone not only harm the lungs; It changes microorganisms in the mouth, and men face the greatest risk.
Ozone is toxic environmental pollution with a wide range of extent on the body. New study in examines the influence of ozone on oral Microbiome and lung function.
Entry
Ozone is formed during the reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Ozone levels grow all over the world, mainly from exhaust processes and industrial processes.
Ozone is a poison capable of causing respiratory, nervous and cardiovascular damage. Its bad effects can vary from ischemic heart disease or chronic obstructive lung disease (Pocket) to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies ozone as a factor contributing to lung damage. In fact, every increase in ozone level by 10 ppb increases the risk of death due to respiratory problems by 4% compared to other causes.
Lungs and lips have many common organisms because of their closeness and the fact that they both meet at the throat. Oral microbiome also divides many organisms with other body parts, from the brain to the heart. Changes in the oral microbiome are associated with lung diseases such as pneumonia, COPD, lung cancer and asthma, and even cystic fibrosis.
The oral cavity is one of the first to meet ozone in the environment. This eliminates ozone relatively slowly compared to the nose, which makes it more susceptible to the effects of ozone. That is why ozone, inhaled by the mouth, penetrates the lungs more than nasal inhaled ozone.
About the study
The current study was a randomized controlled study comparing ozone exposure with filtered air in order to discover the effects and relationship of exposure to ozone to lung function and oral microbiome in healthy adults.
The study took place after a random Crossover project. In each shoulder, 29 people were randomly exposed to filtered air or 280 ppb ozone for two hours. This concentration has been chosen because it is similar to the highest average daily maximum daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentration of 286 PPB in Beijing in China. However, the exhibition is much shorter than it would be in real conditions.
During the entire two -hour session, the participants had ten minutes of rest alternately from ten minutes of exercise (in the form of jumps). The goal was to achieve the target average minute ventilation during exercise (VE) of the area 7-11 min/m2, ensuring a uniform exposure to all participants.
Various lung function tests were carried out after exposure: forced exhaust volume in one second (FEV1), compulsory vital capacity (FVC) and peak exhaust flow (PEF). Samples were taken at the same time for oral microbiome analysis. After two weeks, the groups were changed. The whole experiment was completed in a month.
The average age of participants was 21.97, and their body weight index was 21.51 kg/m2 (in normal). There were 19 men and 10 women.
Research results
After exposing to ozone, the measured concentration of ozone in the filtered air was stable at five parts per billion (PPB), vs 282 ppb.
Lung function
After acute exposure to ozone, the lung function parameters decreased immediately and observly. Forced vital capacity (FVC), which measures the maximum air volume by force exhaled after full inhalation, dropped by an average of 12% (410 ml).
The volume heavily exhaled in one second (forced exhaust volume in one second, FEV1) also decreased by 360 ml, which is a 12%decrease. The peak exhaust flow also dropped by 0.81 l/s (½14%). Men were a general decrease, showing a 14% reduction to 17% in FEV1, FVC and PEF. However, the lung function in women remained unchanged. This may result from gender -specific differences in inflammatory routes potentially caused by ozone.
Oral microbiome
After exposure to ozone, the microbiome became less diverse. The richness of species, abundance and chao indicators dropped by 21-22%.
Ozone seems to selectively suppress a variety of microorganisms, as shows a clear decrease in the number of species. This is regardless of changes in the total number of species or equality of distribution.
Many affected species are associated with oral diseases, including caries, tartar, periodontitis and squamous cell carcinoma. One, Haemophilus plutumis visible in the case of lungs inflammation And it is commonly found in people with nasopharynx puse infections.
It seems that changes in the microbiome are driven by ozone changes to the change of specific metabolic routes involved in biosynthesis and metabolism of many biomolecules. Importantly, the oral microbiome plays a role in responding to pollution by distributing harmful compounds. The changes seen here suggest that they contribute to the influence of ozone on human biology.
Changes in the lung function were in line with the mediation by microorganisms Treponema mediocrewhich increased by ~ 96% in men and 135% in women. The study also showed significant changes in other microorganisms, with an increase in 55% to 80% and fall from 30% to 36%, which reflects the destructive effect of ozone on the structure of the community.
In women, they affected fewer species than in men (7 vs 14, respectively). Treponema average He was a single species that showed a coherent change at ozone in both sexes. It can act as a sensitive marker of ozone lung function. These findings of taxa and paths are exploratory, because none survived the correction of the false detection coefficient, the statistical method used to reduce false positives, when many comparisons are tested simultaneously.
Application
The study emphasizes the harmful effect of ozone exposure to the lungs and the oral microbiome, especially in men. According to this analysis of the change in Treponema average They were in line with the brokering role in a reduced lung function, which seems to be a sensitive indicator of ozone exposure. Men were more sensitive to ozone than women, showing worse lung function and changed oral microbiome after exposure.