Modifying Role of Sustainable Diets on the Association Between Particulate Matter and Biological Aging: The Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.

Higher PM2.5 and PM10 exposure was associated with increased phenotypic age and higher odds of accelerated aging.

• PM2.5 exposure was associated with increased phenotypic age (β = 0.039) and higher odds of accelerated aging (OR = 1.008).
• PM10 exposure was associated with increased phenotypic age (β = 0.028) and higher odds of accelerated aging (OR = 1.005).
• Exposure was measured as one-year average PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations.
• Biological aging was measured by phenotypic age, accelerated age, and relative telomere length (RTL).
• The study included 9527 participants from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study with a mean age of 64.6 years (SD = 6.0).

Greater adherence to a sustainable diet weakened the associations between PM exposure and biological aging.

• Sustainable diet adherence was assessed using Plant-Based Diet Index (PDI) and Planetary Health Diet (PHD) scores, with higher scores indicating greater adherence.
• The associations between PM2.5 and PM10 exposure and phenotypic age/accelerated aging weakened with higher PDI and PHD scores.
• Plant-based dietary patterns are hypothesized to mitigate air pollution-related aging via reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation.

Participants with lower polygenic risk scores for longevity showed stronger associations between PM exposure and biological aging.

• Genetic susceptibility to longevity was assessed using polygenic risk scores.
• Stronger associations between PM exposure and biological aging measures were found in those with lower polygenic risk scores for longevity.
• This suggests potential effect modification by genetic susceptibility to longevity in the PM-aging relationship.

A suggestive association between higher PM exposure and shorter relative telomere length was observed, particularly in older participants and those with cardiovascular diseases.

• The association between higher PM exposure and shorter RTL was described as 'suggestive' rather than definitive.
• This association was particularly observed in participants aged ≥65 years.
• The association was also particularly observed in those with cardiovascular diseases.
• RTL was one of three biological aging measures used alongside phenotypic age and accelerated age.

Air pollution was hypothesized to accelerate biological aging via oxidative stress and inflammation, a process potentially mitigated by plant-based diets.

• The role of dietary or genetic modulators in the relationship between air pollution and biological aging was described as 'understudied' prior to this work.
• Plant-based diets are posited to counteract oxidative stress and inflammation pathways activated by particulate matter exposure.
• The study examined both PM2.5 and PM10 as measures of particulate matter air pollution exposure.