{
  "abstract": "Introduction Systemic sclerosis (SSc) associated autoantibodies provide phenotypic and prognostic information. For example, anti-Th/To positive patients have higher rates of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH), and anti-RNA polymerase III (RNP3) patients have more renal crisis. Ambient air pollution exposure, like particulate matter (PM) 2.5, have been implicated as epigenetic factors in autoimmune disease onset and progression. We hypothesized that PM2.5 and its constituents would be variably linked to the presence of SSc associated autoantibodies.Material and Methods We identified patients who presented to our Scleroderma Center from 1998-2024. Patient addresses were used to generate latitude/longitude coordinates which were then matched to PM2.5 and constituents from the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group online repository. Dates of autoantibody positivity were recorded (identified by immunofluorescence, immunodiffusion, and immunoprecipitation). A composite pollution exposure score was generated for each of the pollutants based on the monthly average pollution exposure for the five years before the date the patient had confirmed SSc-Specific antibody positivity. Logistic regression models assessed associations between each constituent and autoantibody, adjusting for race, smoking status, sex, and age at seropositivity date. All analyses were conducted in R Version 4.3.1.Results We identified 897 SSc patients, with an average age at seropositivity of 53.11, 80.8% of patients were female, and 90.6% were white. Baseline characteristics and serologic profile of the cohort are found in table 1. We identified that both pm2.5 (or=1.10, ci=1.01-1.21, p=0.031) and black carbon exposure (or=4.00, ci=1.25-12.84, p=0.02) were associated with an increased risk of th/to antibody positivity (figure 1) that persisted after adjustment for race, gender, smoking status, and age. Sea salt exposure was protective for anti-centromere (ACA) (OR=0.10, CI=0.01-0.71, p=0.03) and organic matter was associated with reduced risk of RNAP3 positivity (OR=0.70, CI=0.54-0.92, p<0.01).Conclusions Our results suggest that PM2.5 constituents have distinct relationships with risk of specific SSc-associated autoantibodies. Our significant findings align with epidemiological observations regarding autoantibody profiling in SSc: anti-centromere is less common in island nations (Japan, UK) where sea salt exposures are higher; RNAP3 has been associated with increased cancer risk and thus we did not expect increased risk with air pollution, though reduced risk was associated with organic matter. Th/To-positive disease is associated with a high rate of pulmonary hypertension, and PH has been linked to long-term PM2.5 exposure. Constituent specific patterns may help to explain some of the well-defined geographic differences in antibody prevalence and highlight the importance of considering pollution composition in SSc.Abstract P.009 Figure 1Forest plots showing autoantibody association with PM2slevelsAbstract P.009 Table 1Demographics",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Samantha Branton"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada",
        "Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada",
        "Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Pittsburgh, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Gillian Goobie"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Sharon Kim"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Maureen Laffoon"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Robert Lafyatis"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Robyn Domsic"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P.009 Antecedent ambient PM2.5 and constituent exposure associations with scleroderma-associated autoantibodies",
  "uid": "344b8ce2-66cf-5498-bc6b-391a905648e9"
}