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Heat stress-induced heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expressions among vulnerable populations in urban and rural areas Klang Valley, Malaysia

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 35, pages 839–847 (2025)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

As climate change raises global temperatures, there remains a notable gap in understanding the body’s mechanisms of heat stress defense exhibited by Heat Shock Protein (HSP) within the populations.

Objective

This study aims to investigate the expression level of HSP70 in response to indoor heat exposure among vulnerable populations in both urban and rural settings.

Methods

A comparative cross-sectional was conducted among 108 participants from urban and rural areas in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The study included face-to-face interviews, indoor heat exposure monitoring, and thermal stress classification using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). HSP70 gene and protein expressions were analyzed using reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and HSP70 High Sensitivity Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), respectively.

Results

Urban areas experienced signficantly higher UTCI heat exposure levels than rural areas (p < 0.001). In response to heat stress, vulnerable populations in urban areas exhibited higher HSP70 gene relative expression and HSP70 protein expression. A significant mean difference in the plasma HSP70 protein expression was observed between the two groups (p < 0.001). The linear mixed model (LMM) revealed a significant association between UTCI heat exposure levels and HSP70 gene and protein expression in both groups (p < 0.001).

Impact

  • While previous studies have examined cellular responses to heat stress in healthy individuals within controlled experimental settings, our study uniquely focuses on vulnerable individuals in actual environmental conditions. This is crucial for establishing baseline information on the ability of these populations to adapt to climate change and surrounding temperatures. Such information is essential for building resilient communities and preventing fatal incidents such as heat stroke during extreme heat events. By highlighting the differences between urban and rural populations, this study provides critical information for policymakers and health practitioners to design location-specific and population-specific heat stress mitigation strategies.

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Fig. 1: Study participant selection process.
Fig. 2: UTCI Heat Exposure Levels across Urban and Rural Areas.
Fig. 3: Distribution of HSP70 Gene Relative Expression and HSP70 Protein Expression between Urban and Rural Vulnerable Populations (N = 108).

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. Amrina Mohd Amin and Mrs. Safarina Mohamad Ismuddin for their assistance during the field sampling and laboratory work.

Funding

This work was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education (Malaysia), under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), (FRGS/1/2020/SKK06/UPM/02/1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia

    Siti Nurfahirah Muhamad & Fang Lee Lim

  2. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Siti Nurfahirah Muhamad, Karmegam Karuppiah, Nur Shabrina Azreen Mohd Shabri & Vivien How

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Abdah Md Akim

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Contributions

SNM prepared the original draft of the manuscript. VH administered the project and designed the experiments. SNM and NSAMS involved in data collection, methodology, data extraction and data analysis. The manuscript was supervised, reviewed and edited by VH, AMA, FLL, and KK. All authors approved the final version of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vivien How.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

This study obtained ethical clearance from Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) (Ref. No.: JKEUPM-2022-222). Written consent was obtained from participants and parents or guardians for minors before proceeding with the data and samples collection. All data collection methods were performed in accordance with the respective ethical guidelines.

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Muhamad, S.N., Md Akim, A., Lim, F.L. et al. Heat stress-induced heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expressions among vulnerable populations in urban and rural areas Klang Valley, Malaysia. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 35, 839–847 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-025-00764-4

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