Associations of autophagy with lung diffusion capacity and oxygen saturation in severe COPD: effects of particulate air pollution

Although traffic exposure has been associated with the development of COPD, the role of particulate matter <10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) in the pathogenesis of COPD is not yet fully understood. We assessed the 1-year effect of exposure to PM10 on the pathogenesis of COPD in a retrospective cohort study. We recruited 53 subjects with COPD stages III and IV and 15 healthy controls in a hospital in Taiwan. We estimated the 1-year annual mean levels of PM10 at all residential addresses of the cohort participants. Changes in PM10 for the 1-year averages in quintiles were related to diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide levels (r=-0.914, P=0.029), changes in the pulse oxygen saturation (ΔSaO2; r=-0.973, P=0.005), receptor for advanced glycation end-products (r=-0.881, P=0.048), interleukin-6 (r=0.986, P=0.002), ubiquitin (r=0.940, P=0.017), and beclin 1 (r=0.923, P=0.025) in COPD. Next, we observed that ubiquitin was correlated with ΔSaO2 (r=-0.374, P=0.019). Beclin 1 was associated with diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (r=-0.362, P=0.028), ΔSaO2 (r=-0.354, P=0.032), and receptor for advanced glycation end-products (r=-0.471, P=0.004). Autophagy may be an important regulator of the PM10-related pathogenesis of COPD, which could cause deterioration in the lung diffusion capacity and oxygen saturation.