Mexico City Air Pollution Adversely Affects Olfactory Function and Intranasal Trigeminal Sensitivity
Mexico City Air Pollution Adversely Affects Olfactory Function and Intranasal Trigeminal Sensitivity
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/chemse/bjp071
复制
发表时间：
2009-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Hudson, Robyn
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Guarneros, Marco;Hummel, Thomas;Hudson, Robyn
令人惊讶的是，人们对大城市空气污染对嗅觉功能的影响知之甚少，对鼻内三叉神经系统的影响就更少了。鼻内三叉神经系统会产生灼烧、刺痛、刺鼻或新鲜的感觉，并有助于整体的化学感觉体验。使用嗅探棒嗅觉测试电池和已建立的鼻内三叉神经感知测试，我们比较了墨西哥城（一个空气污染严重的地区）居民的嗅觉表现和三叉神经敏感性，与墨西哥特拉斯卡拉州（一个地理上可比较但污染较轻的地区）的对照人群的表现。我们比较了来自不同地区的30名年轻人检测玫瑰气味（2-苯基乙醇）的能力，区分不同的气味，并识别其他几种常见的气味。来自特拉斯卡拉的对照受试者对2-苯乙醇的检测浓度明显低于墨西哥城的受试者，他们对气味的区分能力显著提高，三叉神经敏感性测试成绩显著提高。我们得出结论，墨西哥城的空气污染损害嗅觉功能和鼻内三叉神经敏感性，即使在其他健康的年轻人中也是如此。
Surprisingly little is known about the effects of big-city air pollution on olfactory function and even less about its effects on the intranasal trigeminal system, which elicits sensations like burning, stinging, pungent, or fresh and contributes to the overall chemosensory experience. Using the Sniffin' Sticks olfactory test battery and an established test for intranasal trigeminal perception, we compared the olfactory performance and trigeminal sensitivity of residents of Mexico City, a region with high air pollution, with the performance of a control population from the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, a geographically comparable but less polluted region. We compared the ability of 30 young adults from each location to detect a rose-like odor (2-phenyl ethanol), to discriminate between different odorants, and to identify several other common odorants. The control subjects from Tlaxcala detected 2-phenyl ethanol at significantly lower concentrations than the Mexico City subjects, they could discriminate between odorants significantly better, and they performed significantly better in the test of trigeminal sensitivity. We conclude that Mexico City air pollution impairs olfactory function and intranasal trigeminal sensitivity, even in otherwise healthy young adults.