CGPH FACULTY: Kirk R. Smith
DATE OF PUBLICATION: March 2014
REGION: Latin America
REFERENCE: Guarnieri MJ, Diaz JV, Basu C, Diaz A, Pope D, Smith KR, Smith-Sivertsen T, Bruce N, Solomon C, McCracken J, Balmes JR. Effects of woodsmoke exposure on airway inflammation in rural Guatemalan women. PLoS One. 2014 Mar 13;9(3):e88455. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088455. eCollection 2014.
SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: More than two-fifths of the world’s population uses solid fuels, mostly biomass, for cooking. The resulting biomass smoke exposure is a major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among women in developing countries. Objective: To assess whether lower woodsmoke exposure from use of a stove with a chimney, compared to open fires, is associated with lower markers of airway inflammation in young women. Compared to using an open wood fire for cooking, use of a chimney stove was associated with lower gene expression of MMP-9, a potential mediator of airway remodeling. Among all participants, indoor biomass smoke exposure was associated with higher gene expression of multiple mediators of airway inflammation and remodeling; these mechanisms may explain some of the observed association between prolonged biomass smoke exposure and COPD
ACCESS: Link to Pubmed