ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2021
Metabolomic Changes after Subacute Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Natural Experiment among Healthy Travelers from Los Angeles to Beijing.
Article in Environmental science & technology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Air Pollution Triggers Metabolomic Signature of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Mice and Humans: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Development.Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology · 2026Article
- Effect of natural environmental changes on Hainan migratory population with hypertension in China and related plasma metabolism features.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Benzo[Environmental science. Processes & impacts · 2025Article
- Reduction in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Beijing following China's clean air actions.Science bulletin · 2024Article
- Maternal and newborn metabolomic changes associated with urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolite concentrations at delivery: an untargeted approach.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2023Article
- Metabolic pathways altered by air pollutant exposure in association with lipid profiles in young adults.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2023Article
- Analysis of temporal metabolic rewiring for human respiratory syncytial virus infection by integrating metabolomics and proteomics.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2023Article
- Toxicological Effects of Secondary Air Pollutants.Chemical research in Chinese universities · 2023Review
- Passive smoking and urinary oxidative biomarkers: A pilot study of healthy travelers from Los Angeles to Beijing.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2022Article
- Metabolomics as a valid analytical technique in environmental exposure research: application and progress.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Emerging epidemiological evidence has associated exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with chronic diseases including cardiometabolic diseases and neurodegeneration. However, little information is available about their subacute effects, which may accumulate over years and contribute to chronic disease development. To fill this knowledge gap, we designed a natural experiment among 26 healthy young adults who were exposed to elevated PAHs for 10 weeks after traveling from Los Angeles to Beijing in 2014 and 2015. Serum was collected before, during, and after the trip for metabolomics analysis. We identified 50 metabolites that significantly changed 6-8 weeks after the travel to Beijing (FDR < 5%). The network analysis revealed two main independent modules. Module 1 was allocated to oxidative homeostasis-related response and module 2 to delayed enzymatic deinduction response. Remarkably, the module 1 metabolites were recovered 4-7 weeks after participants' return, while the module 2 metabolites were not. Urinary hydroxylated PAHs were significantly associated with metabolites from both modules, while PAH carboxylic acids, likely metabolites of alkylated PAHs, were only associated with antioxidation-related metabolites. These results suggested differential subacute effects of unsubstituted and alkylated PAHs. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the role of the reversibility of metabolite changes in adverse health effects of PAHs.
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