Air Pollution and Otitis Media in Children: A Systematic Review of Literature

Abstract

Young children are particularly vulnerable to otitis media (OM) which globally affects over 80% of children below the age of 3 years. Although there is convincing evidence for an association between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and OM in children, the relationship with ambient air pollution is not clear. We aimed to systematically review the literature on the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and OM in children. A systematic search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE databases. Of 934 references identified, 24 articles were included. There is an increasing body of evidence supporting an association between higher ambient air pollution exposure and a higher risk of OM in children. While NO2 showed the most consistent association with OM, other specific pollutants showed inconsistent associations. Studies were mainly conducted in high/middle income countries with limited evidence from low-income countries. Although there was a general consensus that higher air pollution exposure is associated with a greater prevalence of OM, the evidence for associations with specific pollutants is inconsistent. More well-designed studies on associations between specific air pollutants as risk factors for OM are warranted, especially in low income countries with high air pollution levels.

Asian Sand Dust Particles Increased Pneumococcal Biofilm Formation in vitro and Colonization in Human Middle Ear Epithelial Cells and Rat Middle Ear Mucosa

“…However, the interaction, colonization, and virulence of S. pneumoniae in the presence of ASD are not known. Previous reports suggested that PM alters host immune defense (Becker and Soukup, 1999;Zelikoff et al, 2002;Watanabe et al, 2016) and induces OM (Bowatte et al, 2018;Nakao et al, 2018;Park et al, 2018); therefore, we hypothesized that the presence of a small quantity of ASD may increase pneumococcal in vitro biofilms, colonization to epithelial cells and middle ear mucosa, and the risk factor for pneumococcus-mediated OM. In this study, we evaluated the effect of ASD on S. pneumoniae in vitro biofilm growth, colonization on HMEECs, and rat middle ear using the rat OM model.…”

“…In the nasopharynx, pneumococci and PM interact, and PM exposure increases the risk of infections and alters the function of native immune cells, impairs mucociliary clearance, and decreases phagocytosis by macrophages (Becker and Soukup, 1999;Zelikoff et al, 2002;Watanabe et al, 2016). PM including environmental tobacco smoke increases the risk of OM in children and changed the middle ear histology and eustachian tube mucosa (Kong et al, 2009;Jones et al, 2012;Bowatte et al, 2018;Nakao et al, 2018;Park et al, 2018). Previously, our group identified a potential biomarker and a signaling pathway related to OM induced by diesel exhaust particles (Kim et al, 2016).…”

Analysis of the Association between environmental-meteorological factors and Acute Suppurative Otitis Media: Further Epidemiological Evidence from Lanzhou, Northwestern China

“…Globally, scholars used cohort studies, case-control studies, cross-case studies and cross-sectional studies to analyze the correlation between air pollutants and otitis media (OM). There is growing evidence that air pollution exposure is associated with OM, and all studies investigating this associftion found evidence that exposure to at least one pollutant increased the risk of OM [2].…”

Effects of combined administration of calcium, iron, zinc, chrysanthemum flavonoids, and DMSA on the treatment of lead intoxication in mice

“…Pb is a naturally occurring toxic metal found in the Earth's crust. Its widespread use has resulted in extensive environmental contamination, human exposure and significant public health problems throughout the world …”