posted on 2024-02-06, 20:05authored byYan Lin, Xiangtian Wang, Ruoxue Chen, Tenley Weil, Yihui Ge, Heather M. Stapleton, Michael H. Bergin, Junfeng “Jim” Zhang
Climate change has contributed to
the increased frequency and intensity
of wildfires. Studying its acute effects is limited due to the unpredictable
nature of the occurrence of wildfires, which necessitates readily
deployable techniques for collecting biospecimens. To identify biomarkers
of the acute effects of wildfires, we conducted this exploratory study
in eight healthy campers (four men and four women) who self-collected
nasal fluid, urine, saliva, and skin wipes at different time points
before, during, and after exposure to wood smoke for 4 h during a
camping event. Concentrations of black carbon in the air and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons in participants’ silicone wristbands
were significantly increased during the exposure session. Among 30
arachidonic acid metabolites measured, lipoxygenase metabolites were
more abundant in nasal fluid and saliva whereas cyclooxygenase and
non-enzymatic metabolites were more abundant in urine. We observed
drastic increases, 8 h following the exposure, in urinary levels of
PGE2 (398%) and 15-keto-PGF2α (191%) [false discovery rate (FDR)
< 10%], with greater increases in men (FDR < 0.01%) than in
women. No significant changes were observed for other metabolites
in urine or the other biospecimens. Our results suggest urinary PGE2
and 15-keto-PGF2α as promising biomarkers reflecting pathophysiologic
(likely sex-dependent) changes induced by short-term exposure to wildfires.