The Effect of Air Pollution on γ-Glutamyltransferase Enzyme Activity

Human exposure to air pollution is associated with an increased risk of diseases such as heart failure, asthma and cancer. It has been suggested that oxidative stress is involved in air pollution-induced disorders. Recently, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) is known as a marker of oxidative stress. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of exposure to outdoor air pollution on enzyme activity of GGT and also usage of GGT serum level as a marker for studying of harmful effects of air pollution in the resident with high air pollution level.
In this analytical cross-sectional study, 110 healthy adult men, never-smoking, who worked in an area with high air pollution and 90 men who worked in an area with low air pollution, as control group, were enrolled. All subjects were in the age range of 25-45 years with minimum work history of three years. The GGT activity in the serum samples was determined using a spectrophotometric method.
Our results showed that the serum levels of GGT in the subjects in the areas with high air pollution (33.92 ± 1.61 U/L) did not differ significantly with those of control region (33.62 ± 1.74 U/L).
Overall, this study did not support the hypothesis that GGT enzyme could be considered as an oxidative stress marker following exposure to outdoor air pollution. Further studies with a larger sample sizes and also trials in other areas are required to confirm these results.