Effects of Chronic and Acute Ozone Exposure on Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Capacity in Healthy Young Adults Connie Chen,1 Mehrdad Arjomandi,2 John Balmes,1,2 Ira Tager,3 and Nina Holland1 1Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA; 2Lung Biology Center, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA; 3Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA Abstract Background: There is growing evidence for the role of oxidative damage in chronic diseases. Although ozone (O3) is an oxidant pollutant to which many people are exposed, few studies have examined whether O3 induces oxidative stress in humans. Objectives: This study was designed to assess the effect of short- and long-term O3 exposures on biomarkers of oxidative stress in healthy individuals. Methods: Biomarkers of lipid peroxidation, 8-isoprostane (8-iso-PGF) , and antioxidant capacity ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were analyzed in two groups of healthy college students with broad ranges of ambient O3 exposure during their lifetimes and previous summer recess either in Los Angeles (LA, n = 59) or the San Francisco Bay Area (SF, n = 61) . Results: Estimated 2-week, 1-month, and lifetime O3 exposures were significantly correlated with elevated 8-iso-PGF. Elevated summertime exposures resulted in the LA group having higher levels of 8-iso-PGF than the SF group (p = 0.02) . Within each location, males and females had similar 8-iso-PGF. No regional difference in FRAP was observed, with significantly higher FRAP in males in both groups (SF: p = 0.002 ; LA: p = 0.004) . An exposure chamber substudy (n = 15) also showed a significant increase in 8-iso-PGF as well as an inhibition of FRAP immediately after a 4-hr exposure to 200 ppb O3, with near normalization by 18 hr in both biomarkers. Conclusions: Long-term exposure to O3 is associated with elevated 8-iso-PGF, which suggests that 8-iso-PGF is a good biomarker of oxidative damage related to air pollution. Key words: antioxidant capacity, FRAP, isoprostane, lifetime exposure, lipid peroxidation, plasma, oxidative injury, ozone. Environ Health Perspect 115:1732–1737 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.10294 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 11 September 2007] Address correspondence to N. Holland, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 733 University Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 USA. Telephone: (510) 455-0561. Fax: (510) 643-5426. E-mail: ninah@berkeley.edu Supplemental Material is available online at http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2007/10294/suppl.pdf We acknowledge the participants, without whom this study would not be possible ; M. Bastaki and S. Swearingen for their assistance with the FRAP assay ; and P. Wang for his help with isoprostane analysis. We also acknowledge F. Lurman, Sonoma Technology, Inc., who provided the pollutant data and residential interpolation for the exposure estimates. This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01 60689 and M01RR00083-41, and the UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 22 March 2007 ; accepted 11 September 2007. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |