Effect of short-term ambient PM2.5 exposure on fasting blood glucose levels: A longitudinal study among 47,471 people in eastern China

As a common health indicator in physical examinations, fasting blood glucose (FBG) level measurements are widely applied as a diagnostic method for diabetes mellitus. Uncertain conclusions remained regarding the relationship between PM2.5 exposure and FBG levels. We enrolled 47,471 subjects who participated in annual physical examinations between 2017 and 2019. We collected their general characteristics and FBG levels, and environmental factors simultaneously. We applied the generalized additive model to evaluate the impact of short-term outdoor PM2.5 exposure on FBG levels. Among the entire population, the single-pollutant models showed that a 10 mu g/m(3) increase in PM2.5 significantly contributed to 0.0030, 0.0233, and 0.0325 mmol/L increases in FBG at lag 0-7 days, lag 0-21 days, and lag 0-28 days, respectively. Accordingly, in multipollutant models, when PM2.5 increased by 10 mu g/m(3), there was an elevation of 0.0361, 0.0315, 0.0357, and 0.0387 mmol/L in FBG for 8-day, 15-day, 22-day, and 29-day moving averages, respectively. Similarly, we observed a significant positive association between them in the normal population. Moreover, the effects could be modified by age in both the entire and normal populations. Decreasing the ambient PM2.5 concentrations can alleviate the elevation of FBG, which may significantly impact the burden of diabetes mellitus.

Automated summary

The study found a positive correlation between short-term outdoor PM2.5 exposure and FBG levels, which exists in both the entire population and normal population. Additionally, the effects of PM2.5 could be modified by age.