Air pollution has significant toxicity on the kidney. However, improving air quality may have a beneficial effect on kidney function, according to a population-based study published in Health Data Science.
The researchers found that ambient fine particulate matters (PM2.5) concentration reduction led to significant improvement in laboratory test results used to assess a patient’s kidney function.
“Long-term exposure to PM2.5 has been associated with declined kidney function. However, whether the association is causal remains unknown.” says co-author Yiqun Han, research associate in School of Public Health, Imperial College London. “We conducted a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference analysis and identified a strong linkage between the reduced PM2.5 with improved kidney function.”
The researchers analyzed the demographic and laboratory records of 5,115 adults who participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). They investigated the change in kidney function parameters between 2011 and 2015 according to the population’s long-term exposure to PM2.5 derived from an environmental database.
The team found that a 10 μg/m3 reduction in PM2.5 significantly improved multiple kidney function parameters. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) increased by 0.42 mL/min/1.73m2, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) decreased by 0.38 mg/dL, and uric acid (UA) decreased by 0.06 mg/dL, respectively.
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