Air pollution, oxidative stress and dietary supplementation: a review

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Air pollution, oxidative stress and dietary supplementation: a review

I. Romieu, F. Castro-Giner, N. Kunzli and J. Sunyer

Eur Respir J 2008; 31:179-197

Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2008

http://erj.ersjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/1/179

The aim of the present review was to provide an up-to-date overview of

the biological and epidemiological evidence of the role of oxidative

stress as a major underlying feature of the toxic effect of air

pollutants, and the potential role of dietary supplementation in

enhancing antioxidant defences.

A bibliographic search was conducted through PubMed. The keywords used

in the search were " air pollutant " , " oxidative stress " , " inflammation " ,

" antioxidant polyunsaturated fatty acids " and " genetics " . In addition,

the authors also searched for biomarkers of oxidative stress and nutrients.

The review presents the most recent data on: the biological and

epidemiological evidence of the oxidative stress response to air

pollutants; the role of dietary supplementation as a modulator of these

effects; and factors of inter-individual variation in human response.

The methodology for further epidemiological studies will be discussed in

order to improve the current understanding on how nutritional factors

may act.

There is substantial evidence that air pollution exposure results in

increased oxidative stress and that dietary supplementation may play a

modulating role on the acute effect of air pollutants. Further

epidemiological studies should address the impact of supplementation

strategies in the prevention of air-pollution-related long-term effects

in areas where people are destined to be exposed for the distant future.

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1 Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Cuernavaca, Mexico, 2 Instituto

Municipal de Investigaciones Médicas, and 3 Institut Català de Recerca i

Estudis Avançat (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.

CORRESPONDENCE: I. Romieu, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Av.

Universidad No. 655, Col. Santa Ahuacatitlan, Cuernavaca, Morelos

62508, Mexico. Fax: 52 7773111148. E-mail: iromieu@...

Keywords: Air pollution, antioxidants, nutrition, oxidative stress

Received: October 2, 2006

Accepted August 20, 2007