ArticlePLoS medicine2021
Obesity and the relation between joint exposure to ambient air pollutants and incident type 2 diabetes: A cohort study in UK Biobank.
Article in PLoS medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 166 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epidemiological and mechanistic links between PMFrontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Where You Live Shapes Diabetes Risk: Multilevel Determinants of Type 2 Diabetes in the East South Central United States.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Private garden exposure and public park access in relation to type-2 diabetes incidence: a UK Biobank cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The diabetes exposome: interplay of environmental and genetic determinants in diabetes.Human genomics · 2026Review
- Air Pollution and Incident Cardiovascular Disease: Modification by Genetic Susceptibility and the Mitigating Role of Physical Activity.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Relationship between habitual glucosamine use and risk of incident idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with the modification effect of genetic susceptibility: a prospective cohort study.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Plasma proteome mediates the associations between air pollution exposure and disease risk.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A hypothetical intervention analysis for the effects of healthy dietary patterns on reducing major chronic diseases and mortality associated with air pollutant mixtures.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Effects of in utero tobacco exposure, age of smoking initiation, and environmental pollution on the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adulthood: a large scale prospective cohort study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Baseline and longitudinal changes of body roundness index and incident type 2 diabetes: evidence from the UK Biobank cohort.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2025Article
- Sex differences in the redox response to fine particulate matter (PMPhysiological reports · 2025Article
- Long-term air pollution exposure and cardiovascular disease risk across cardiovascular-renal-metabolic stages: a nationwide study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Windows of susceptibility to air pollution during and surrounding pregnancy in relation to longitudinal maternal measures of adiposity and lipid profiles.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Long-Term or Recurrent Antibiotic Use in Early Life and the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Population-Based Prospective Cohort and a Case-Control Study.Journal of diabetes · 2025Article
- Joint effects of air pollution and diet patterns on the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the effects of short-term PMBMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- Green sanctuaries: residential green and garden space and the natural environment mitigate mental disorders risk of diabetic patients.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Association between air pollution and lifestyle with the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia in individuals with cardiometabolic diseases.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Diabetes burden attributable to air pollution from 1990~2021 and the future trends: a population-based study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAir pollution has been related to incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). We assessed the joint association of various air pollutants with the risk of T2D and examined potential modification by obesity status and genetic susceptibility on the relationship. METHODS AND
findingsA total of 449,006 participants from UK Biobank free of T2D at baseline were included. Of all the study population, 90.9% were white and 45.7% were male. The participants had a mean age of 56.6 (SD 8.1) years old and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 27.4 (SD 4.8) kg/m2. Ambient air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) with diameters ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), between 2.5 μm and 10 μm (PM2.5-10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured. An air pollution score was created to assess the joint exposure to the 4 air pollutants. During a median of 11 years follow-up, we documented 18,239 incident T2D cases. The air pollution score was significantly associated with a higher risk of T2D. Compared to the lowest quintile of air pollution score, the hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) for T2D was 1.05 (0.99 to 1.10, p = 0.11), 1.06 (1.00 to 1.11, p = 0.051), 1.09 (1.03 to 1.15, p = 0.002), and 1.12 (1.06 to 1.19, p < 0.001) for the second to fifth quintile, respectively, after adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, genetic factors, and other covariates. In addition, we found a significant interaction between the air pollution score and obesity status on the risk of T2D (p-interaction < 0.001). The observed association was more pronounced among overweight and obese participants than in the normal-weight people. Genetic risk score (GRS) for T2D or obesity did not modify the relationship between air pollution and risk of T2D. Key study limitations include unavailable data on other potential T2D-related air pollutants and single-time measurement on air pollutants.
conclusionsWe found that various air pollutants PM2.5, PM2.5-10, NO2, and NO, individually or jointly, were associated with an increased risk of T2D in the population. The stratified analyses indicate that such associations were more strongly associated with T2D risk among those with higher adiposity.
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