A environmental epidemiological study conducted by Professor Chen Renjie and Associate Professor Xu Yanyi from the School of Public Health at Fudan University, led by doctoral student Fang Xinyi, showed that ozone exposure exacerbates asthma. This provides important experimental evidence for understanding the pathological and physiological processes of acute exacerbation of asthma induced by environmental factors. Recently, the research article was published in the latest issue of the international academic journal "Journal of Hazardous Substances". Ozone is a highly oxidizing gaseous pollutant that poses a significant threat to the respiratory system. Research has found that ozone exposure is associated with various adverse health outcomes, including an increased risk of respiratory diseases and death, as well as worsening respiratory irritation symptoms. Asthma, as one of the important respiratory diseases, is regulated by both genetic and environmental factors. It is prone to acute attacks and can even endanger life due to external environmental stimuli. With the acceleration of urbanization and global climate change, ozone pollution has become increasingly prominent. Research on how ozone exposure can worsen asthma has gradually attracted attention, but most previous studies have been limited to Europe and America. More importantly, previous epidemiological studies have often used asthma mortality outcomes or hospitalization or emergency visits as indicators of asthma exacerbations, which can easily overlook asymptomatic or mild symptomatic asthma exacerbations. And forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume per second, and peak expiratory flow are important indicators for diagnosing asthma and early identification of asthma exacerbations. At present, there is limited research on the relationship between short-term ozone exposure and exacerbation of asthma, especially in accurately identifying early changes in asthma exacerbation, and its potential mechanisms are not yet clear. To further explore the impact of short-term ozone exposure on the exacerbation of asthma, the research group led by Chen Renjie and Xu Yanyi conducted three parts of research: firstly, to investigate the association between short-term ozone exposure and individual lung function indicators of asthma patients in China, an environmental epidemiological study was conducted using longitudinal follow-up data from multiple cities; Secondly, using an asthma animal model, investigate the effects of short-term ozone exposure on the pathophysiology of asthmatic mice; Finally, intervention experiments were conducted to further explore the potential mechanisms by which short-term ozone exposure exacerbates asthma. The research results found that short-term ozone exposure can significantly reduce lung function indicators in asthma patients, and the damage to lung function in male patients is more significant; Animal experiments further confirmed that ozone exposure induces oxidative stress response in lung tissue, exacerbating lung tissue damage and functional impairment in asthma model mice; Mechanism studies have found that excessive release of interleukin-33 and immune imbalance of ILC2, Th2, and Th17 cells in the body play a key role in this process. This study systematically explored the potential mechanisms by which ozone, as an environmental pollutant, regulates the lung immune microenvironment and worsens airway hyperresponsiveness through a combination of population epidemiological investigations and animal experiments. Using population research results as clues, the study systematically identified the effects of short-term ozone exposure on asthma exacerbation at the functional, histopathological, cellular, protein, and genetic levels. This provides experimental evidence for deepening the understanding of the relationship between ozone exposure and asthma, and also provides important scientific basis for optimizing ozone air pollution prevention and control strategies and the prevention and treatment of related diseases. (New Society)