Effects of chronic and acute ozone exposure on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity in healthy young adults

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence for the role of oxidative damage in chronic diseases. Although ozone (O-3) is an oxidant pollutant to which many people are exposed, few studies have examined whether O-3 induces oxidative stress in humans. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to assess the effect of short, and Ion term O-3 exposures on biomarkers of oxidative stress in healthy individuals. METHODS: Biomarkers of lipid peroxidation, 8-isoprostane (8-iso-PGF), and antioxidant capacity ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) were analyzed in two groups of healthy college students with broad ranges of ambient O-3 exposure during their lifetimes and previous summer recess either in Los Angeles (LA, n = 59) or the San Francisco Bay Area (SF, n = 61). RESULTS: Estimated 2-week, 1-month, and lifetime O-3 exposures were significantly correlated with elevated 8-iso-PGF. Elevated summertime exposures resulted in the LA group having higher levels of 8-iso-PGF than the SF group (p = 0.02). Within each location, males and females had similar 8-iso-PGF. No regional difference in FRAP was observed, with significantly higher FRAP in males in both groups (SF: p = 0.002; LA: p = 0.004). An exposure chamber substudy (n = 15) also showed a significant increase in 8-iso-PGF as well as an inhibition of FRAP immediately after a 4-hr exposure to 200 ppb O-3, with near normalization by 18 hr in both biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term exposure to O-3 is associated with elevated 8-iso-PGF, which suggests that 8-iso-PGF is a good biomarker of oxidative damage related to air pollution.