Plasma Proteomic Associations with Short‑, Intermediate‑, and Long-Term Ozone Exposure in a Han Chinese population

While epidemiological evidence consistently links ambient
ozone
to higher rates of disease and death, the biological mechanism and
processes driving this association remain unclear. In this study,
we recruited 2623 Han Chinese participants and measured the expression
of 6528 plasma proteins using untargeted high-resolution mass-spectrometry-based
proteomics. Individual-level ozone exposure was assessed at short-term,
intermediate-term, and long-term durations. Proteome-wide association
analysis identified 209 proteins significantly associated with ozone
exposure across three exposure windows, including 74 proteins for
short-term, 52 for intermediate-term, and 125 for long-term. Moreover,
comparative analyses of proteins associated with three exposures revealed
that longer ozone exposure magnifies proteomic effects. The ozone-related
proteins were significantly enriched in biological pathways related
to coagulation, vesicle trafficking, and nucleotide metabolism and
have previously been linked to a variety of diseases, such as cardiovascular,
respiratory, immune, and metabolic diseases. Collectively, our findings
offer a proteome-wide perspective on the biological mechanisms underlying
ozone toxicity, supported by evidence from a Chinese cohort.