Now, Pollution Linked to Diabetes Too

                Long term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes – especially for people with impaired glucose metabolism. Air pollution exposure at the place of residence increases the risk of developing insulin resistance as a prediabetic state of type 2 diabetes. Whether the disease becomes manifest and when this occurs is not only due to lifestyle or genetic factors, but also due to traffic related air pollution. For the current study, researchers from the German Centre for Diabetes Research (DZD) analyzed the data of nearly 3,000 participants of the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA) study who live in the city of Augsburg and two adjacent rural counties.

                All individuals were interviewed and physically examined. The researchers took fasting blood samples, in which they determined various markers for insulin resistance and inflammation. In addition, leptin was examined as adipokine which has been suggested to be associated with insulin resistance. Non-diabetic individuals underwent an oral glucose tolerance test to detect whether their glucose metabolism was impaired. The researchers compared these data with the concentrations of air pollutants at the place of residence of the participants, which they estimated using predictive models based on repeated measurements at 20 sited (for particle measurements) and at 40 sited (for nitrogen dioxide measurements) in the city and in the rural countries.

                The results revealed that people who already have an impaired glucose metabolism, so-called prediabetic individuals, are particularly vulnerable to the effect of air pollution. In these individuals, the association between increases in their blood marker levels and increases in air pollutants concentrations is particularly significant. Thus, over the long term – especially for people with impaired glucose metabolism – air pollution is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.