Epidemiological and experimental links between air pollution and type 2 diabetes

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

There is increasing evidence suggesting links between exposure to environmental toxins and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). In this review, we summarize the experimental evidence to support this association that has been noted in many epidemiologic studies. Inflammation in response to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) exposure in air pollution represents a common mechanism that may interact with other pro-inflammatory influences in diet and life style to modulate susceptibility to cardiometabolic diseases. The role of innate immune cytokines released from macrophages in the lung is well known. In addition, chemokine triggers in response to air-pollution exposure may mediate a cellular response from the bone marrow/spleen through toll-like receptors (TLRs) and Nucleotide Oligomerization Domain receptors (NLRs) pathways to mediate inflammatory response in organs. Emerging data also seem to support a role for PM(2.5) exposure in endoplasmic reticulum stress-induced apoptosis and in brown adipose tissue dysfunction. Decreased expression of UCP1 in brown adipose tissue may account for reduced thermogenesis providing another link between PM(2.5) and insulin resistance. The implications of an experimental link between air-pollution exposure and type 2 DM are profound as air pollution is a pervasive risk factor throughout the world and even modest alleviation in exposure may

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.