Fig. 1
From: Chronic air pollution-induced subclinical airway inflammation and polygenic susceptibility
Environmental main effects of chronic air pollution exposure on airway inflammatory biomarker levels. % change percentage change in biomarker level, CI confidence interval, * = p-value: < 0.01, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), leukotriene (LT) B4, total number of cells = the sum of eosinophils, macrophages, neutrophils and epithelial cells, NO2 = nitrogen dioxide, NOx = nitrogen oxides, PM2.5/10/coarse = particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5/ ≤ 10/ 2.5–10 µm, PMabs = PM2.5 absorbance, reflectance of PM2.5 filters Air pollutants: The mean of the annual average concentrations from baseline and first follow-up examination within a time window of 15 years prior to the airway inflammatory biomarker assessments, standardized using interquartile ranges. Adjusted for: age, body mass index (BMI in kg/m2), highest education of the participant or spouse, ever-/never-smoking and second-hand smoking