Pollutants: a candidate as a new risk factor for osteoarthritis—results from a systematic literature review

Abstract

BackgroundConsidering non-classical environmental risk factors for osteoarthritis (OA), a systematic literature review (SLR) was performed to summarise existing knowledge on associations between OA and pollutants.MethodsPubMed was used to identify studies reporting data on OA and pollutants in humans (examples of MeSH terms: “Pesticides” or “Polychlorinated Biphenyls” or ‘Lead’). Reports included epidemiological clinical studies, pollutant assessments in ex vivo OA joint, and in vitro effects of pollutants on chondrocytes.ResultsAmong the 193 potentially relevant articles, 14 were selected and combined with 9 articles obtained by manual search. Among these 23 articles there were: (1) 11 epidemiological studies on the relationship between OA and pollutants exposure, (2) 8 on pollutant concentrations in ex vivo OA joint, (3) 4 on the in vitro effects of pollutants on human chondrocytes. Epidemiological studies investigating mainly chlorinated and fluorinated pollutants suggested a possible link with OA. In cross-sectional studies, radiographic knee OA prevalence increased with higher serum lead levels. There was also a relationship between serum lead levels and serum/urine joint biomarkers. A high concentration of heavy metals in the cartilage tidemark was found in ex vivo joints. In vitro, the viability of chondrocytes was reduced in presence of some pollutants. However, the level of knowledge currently remains low, justifying the need for new methodologically sound studies.ConclusionsThis SLR supports the hypothesis of a possible involvement of pollutants in OA disease risk. Large-scale epidemiological and biological studies and ideally big-data analysis are needed to confirm that pollutants could be risk factors for OA.

Blood Trihalomethane Concentrations and Osteoarthritis among U.S. Population Aged over 50 Years

“…19,20 In support of our findings, a greater risk of osteoarthritis has been reported for several other environmental pollutants, such as phenols, parabens, and perfluoroalkyl acids, all of which are associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. 7,8 In a recent national longitudinal study consisting of 12,543 Chinese adults aged 65 years and above, Yangchang and colleagues assessed the risk of osteoarthritis according to sources of water (i.e., well, surface water, spring, and tap water). 47 They reported a higher incidence of osteoarthritis among participants drinking well and spring water compared to those who drank tap water.…”

“…Similarly, the age-standardized osteoarthritis prevalence among United States (U.S.) adults has increased from 6.6% in 1999–2000 to 14.3% in 2013–2014 . Although the causes of osteoarthritis are not fully understood, inflammation and oxidative stress are thought to be involved. , Growing evidence shows that environmental pollutants, particularly phenols, parabens, and perfluoroalkyl acids that are shown to induce inflammation and oxidative stress, have been associated with osteoarthritis. , …”

“…5,6 Growing evidence shows that environmental pollutants, particularly phenols, parabens, and perfluoroalkyl acids that are shown to induce inflammation and oxidative stress, have been associated with osteoarthritis. 7,8 Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are unintentionally generated when disinfectants react with natural or artificial compounds (e.g., organic matter, bromide, and iodine) during water treatment. 9 Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the most common classes of DBPs, accounting for 66% of the hundreds of DBPs identified in chlorinated drinking water.…”

Relationship of Healthy Building Determinants With Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Extremities: A Systematic Review

“…Fifty-three eligible studies were uncovered . Twenty-six studies seemed to be eligible at preliminary review, but were deemed ineligible for the following reasons: association of MSD with HBD not assessed (n = 9) [86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94], HBD details not provided (n = 1) [95], HBD not assessed (n = 7) [96][97][98][99][100][101][102], independent impact of HBD could not be concluded (n = 1) [103], not indoor environment (n = 4) [104][105][106][107], not MSD (n = 3) [108][109][110], and not original research (n = 1) [111]. Sixteen studies [34,38,[47][48][49][50]58,63,67,69,70,72,73,75,78,79] uncovered in the current review were also reported in our other systematic review on HBDs and spine-related MSDs (back pain, neck pain) [13].…”

“…Fifty-three eligible studies were uncovered [ 33 - 85 ]. Twenty-six studies seemed to be eligible at preliminary review, but were deemed ineligible for the following reasons: association of MSD with HBD not assessed (n = 9) [ 86 - 94 ], HBD details not provided (n = 1) [ 95 ], HBD not assessed (n = 7) [ 96 - 102 ], independent impact of HBD could not be concluded (n = 1) [ 103 ], not indoor environment (n = 4) [ 104 - 107 ], not MSD (n = 3) [ 108 - 110 ], and not original research (n = 1) [ 111 ].…”