Associations of Genetic Risk and Physical Activity with Incident Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.

Jin YANG; Xiao Lin WANG; Wen Fang ZHONG; Jian GAO; Huan CHEN; Pei Liang CHEN; Qing Mei HUANG; Yi Xin ZHANG; Fang Fei YOU; Chuan LI; Wei Qi SONG; Dong SHEN; Jiao Jiao REN; Dan LIU; Zhi Hao LI; Chen MAO

Return

Associations of Genetic Risk and Physical Activity with Incident Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Large Prospective Cohort Study.

Author: Jin YANG ¹ ; Xiao Lin WANG ¹ ; Wen Fang ZHONG ¹ ; Jian GAO ¹ ; Huan CHEN ¹ ; Pei Liang CHEN ¹ ; Qing Mei HUANG ¹ ; Yi Xin ZHANG ¹ ; Fang Fei YOU ¹ ; Chuan LI ¹ ; Wei Qi SONG ¹ ; Dong SHEN ¹ ; Jiao Jiao REN ² ; Dan LIU ¹ ; Zhi Hao LI ¹ ; Chen MAO ³
Author Information

1. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.
2. School of Health Management, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.
3. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China;National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Genetic risk; Physical activity; Polygenic risk scores
MeSH: Humans; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/epidemiology*; Exercise; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Aged; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Risk Factors; United Kingdom/epidemiology*; Incidence; Adult
From: Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2025;38(10):1194-1204
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To investigate the relationship between physical activity and genetic risk and their combined effects on the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
METHODS:This prospective cohort study included 318,085 biobank participants from the UK. Physical activity was assessed using the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The participants were stratified into low-, intermediate-, and high-genetic-risk groups based on their polygenic risk scores. Multivariate Cox regression models and multiplicative interaction analyses were used.
RESULTS:During a median follow-up period of 13 years, 9,209 participants were diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. For low genetic risk, compared to low physical activity, the hazard ratios ( HRs) for moderate and high physical activity were 0.853 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: 0.748-0.972) and 0.831 (95% CI: 0.727-0.950), respectively. For intermediate genetic risk, the HRs were 0.829 (95% CI: 0.758-0.905) and 0.835 (95% CI: 0.764-0.914), respectively. For participants with high genetic risk, the HRs were 0.809 (95% CI: 0.746-0.877) and 0.818 (95% CI: 0.754-0.888), respectively. A significant interaction was observed between genetic risk and physical activity.
CONCLUSION:Moderate or high levels of physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease across all genetic risk groups, highlighting the need to tailor activity interventions for genetically susceptible individuals.