Systemic Inflammation, Endothelial Dysfunction, and Activation in Clinically Healthy Children Exposed to Air Pollutants

Mexico City children are chronically exposed to significant concentrations of air pollutants and exhibit chronic respiratory-tract inflammation. Epidemiological, controlled human exposures, laboratory-based animal models, and in vitro/in vivo studies have shown that inflammatory, endothelial dysfunction, and endothelial damage mediators are upregulated upon exposure to particulate matter (PM). Endothelial dysfunction is a critical event in cardiovascular disease. The focus of thiswork was to investigate whether exposure to ambient air pollution including PM2.5 produces systemic inflammation and endothelial injury in healthy children. We measuredmarkers of endothelial activation, and inflammatory mediators in 52 children age 8.6±0.1 yr, residents of Mexico City (n: 28) or of Polotitlan (n: 24), a city with lowlevels of pollutants. Mexico City children had significant increases in inflammatory mediators and vasoconstrictors, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, prostaglandin (PG) E2, C-reactive protein, ...