Association of residential exposure to air pollution and ANRIL expression in adults with and without ischemic stroke in Iran: A cross-sectional study

Air pollution exposures including particulate matter (PM) have been related with genotoxic effects; however, the evidence on such associations with ANRIL (a long non-coding RNA) expression is not clear yet. Therefore, this study for the first time aimed to investigate the association between PM exposure at residential addresses and ANRIL expression. Moreover, the risk of ischemic stroke (IS) related PM exposure, as well as ANRIL expression and finally, the mediation role of ANRIL on IS occurrence, were assessed. A total of 186 patients with IS and 187 healthy controls who were age, gender and body mass index (BMI)-matched were recruited for this study in Sabzevar, Iran (2019-20). PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀ at participants' homes were estimated using spatiotemporal models developed for Sabzevar. The ANRIL expression was measured using real-time PCR. The linear regression models were applied to assess the relationship between PM₁, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations and expression levels of ANRIL. Higher PM₁₀ exposure was related with higher ANRIL expression. In the fully adjusted model higher expression level of ANRIL was related with higher risk of IS (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.29, P-value <0.01). Each 1 μg/m³ increase in exposure to PM₁, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀, the OR of IS increased by 1.04 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.07), 1.03 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.06) and 1.07 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.12), respectively. Our results suggested that PM₁, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ could affect IS development by increasing ANRIL expression.