Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2015

Abstract

Millions of Mexico, US and across the world children are overweight and obese. Exposure to fossil-fuel combustion sources increases the risk for obesity and diabetes, while long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and ozone (O3) above US EPA standards is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Mexico City Metropolitan Area children are chronically exposed to PM2.5 and O3 concentrations above the standards and exhibit systemic, brain and intrathecal inflammation, cognitive deficits, and Alzheimer disease neuropathology. We investigated adipokines, food reward hormones, endothelial dysfunction, vitamin D and apolipoprotein E (APOE) relationships in 80 healthy, normal weight 11.1±3.2 years olds matched by age, gender, BMI and SES, low (n: 26) versus high (n:54) PM 2.5 exposures. Mexico City children had higher leptin and endothelin-1 (p 2.5 exposed children. Mexico City APOE 4 v 3 children had higher glucose (p=0.009). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D < 30 ng/mL was documented in 87% of Mexico City children. Leptin is strongly positively associated to PM 2.5 cumulative exposures. Residing in a high PM2.5 and O3 environment is associated with 12 h fasting hyperleptinemia, altered appetite-regulating peptides, vitamin D deficiency, and increases in ET-1 in clinically healthy children. These changes signal the future trajectory in urban children towards the development of insulin resistance, obesity, type II diabetes, premature cardiovascular disease, addiction-like behavior, cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Increased efforts should be made to decrease pediatric PM 2.5 exposures, to deliver health interventions prior to the development of obesity and to identify and mitigate environmental factors influencing obesity and Alzheimer disease.

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Copyright Statement

This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. © 2015, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Details regarding the use of this work can be found at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The final, definitive version of this document can be found online at Environmental Research, doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2015.05.012

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