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Personal PM2.5 and CO exposures and heart rate variability in subjects with known ischemic heart disease in Mexico City

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 16, pages 131–137 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in Mexico City and have shown a rising trend over the past 20 years. Various epidemiological studies have reported an association between respirable particles and carbon monoxide (CO), with cardiorespiratory outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), also known as respirable or fine particles and CO on heart rate variability (HRV) in 5-min periods in patients with known ischemic heart disease. 30 patients were selected from the outpatient clinic of the National Institute of Cardiology of Mexico and followed during 11 h, using electrocardiography (ECG) ambulatory electrocardiograms and personal monitors for CO and PM2.5. We calculated frequency-domain measurements using power spectral analysis and assessed the association with pollutants using mixed models analysis in 5-min periods. We found a decrease in HRV measured as high frequency (Ln) (coefficient=−0.008, 95% confidence interval (CI), −0.015, 0.0004) for each 10 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) increase of personal PM2.5 exposure. We also found a decrease of low (ln) (coefficient=−0.024, 95% CI, −0.041, −0.007) and very low frequencies (ln) (coefficient=−0.034, 95% CI, −0.061, −0.007) for 1 parts per million (p.p.m.) increase in CO personal exposure after adjustment for potential confounding factors. These results show that for this high-risk population, the alteration of the cardiac autonomic regulation was significantly associated with both PM2.5 and CO personal exposures.

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Abbreviations

HRV:

heart rate variability

PM2.5:

particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm

PM10:

particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm

CO:

carbon monoxide

p.p.m.:

parts per million

μg/m3:

micrograms per cubic meter

MI:

myocardial infarction

ECG:

electrocardiography

LF:

low frequency

VLF:

very low frequency

HF:

high frequency

Hz:

Hertz

PDR:

personal data ram

HR:

heart rate.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) of Mexico RI-500-1-1. We thank Sofia Fonseca for the instrumental role she played in the data collection phase of the study and Dr. Manlio Márquez for his work in the ECG edition.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, México

    Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez & Martha María Téllez-Rojo

  2. Instituto de Salud, Ambiente y Trabajo, México

    Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez

  3. Organización Panamericana de la Salud, Brazil

    José Antonio Escamilla-Cejudo

  4. Instituto Nacional de Cardiología, México City, México

    José Antonio González-Hermosillo & Maite Vallejo

  5. Dirección General de Promoción de la Salud, Secretaría de Salud, México City, México

    Carlos Santos-Burgoa

  6. Instituto Nacional de Ecología, México City, México

    Leonora Rojas-Bracho

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  1. Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez.

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Riojas-Rodríguez, H., Escamilla-Cejudo, J., González-Hermosillo, J. et al. Personal PM2.5 and CO exposures and heart rate variability in subjects with known ischemic heart disease in Mexico City. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 16, 131–137 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500453

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jea.7500453

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