Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, Catania, 95123, Italy.
Department of Medical, Surgical and Advanced Technologies "G.F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 87, Catania, 95123, Italy.
Environ Res. 2022 May 15;208:112581. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112581. Epub 2021 Dec 31.
Air pollution is one of the most serious environmental problems that afflict our planet and one of the greatest risk factors for human health. In particular, PM is able to cross the blood-alveolar and blood-brain barriers, thus increasing the onset of respiratory, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Neurodegenerative disease is a progressive neuronal dysfunction that leads to neuronal lesions in both structure and function, and includes several diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), vascular dementia (VaD), multiple sclerosis (MS), and others. We carried out a systematic review using PRISMA approach to investigate on the possible association between exposure to PM and neurodegenerative diseases. The international databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Sciences) were used to find published studies on the topic. The search period was between January 2011 and June 2021. About 2000 full research articles were selected, and finally, we included 20 full-research articles. Selected studies have highlighted how PM exposure can be associated with the onset of neurodegenerative diseases (AD, PD, MS, VaD). This association depends not only on age, PM levels and exposure time, but also on exposure to other air pollutants, proximity to areas with high vehicular traffic, and the presence of comorbidities. Exposure to PM promotes neuroinflammation processes, because through breathing the particles can reach the nasal epithelial mucosa and transferred to the brain through the olfactory bulb. Furthermore, exposure to PM has been associated with an increased expression of markers of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. alpha-synuclein or beta-amyloid), which can contribute to the etiopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Although many studies have revealed the pathological relationship between PM exposure and cognitive impairment, the potential cellular and molecular mechanisms of PM leading to neurodegenerative disease remain not entirely clear, and then, further studies need to be carried out on the topic.
空气污染是困扰我们地球的最严重的环境问题之一，也是人类健康的最大风险因素之一。特别是 PM 能够穿过血肺泡和血脑屏障，从而增加呼吸道、心血管和神经退行性疾病的发病风险。神经退行性疾病是一种进行性神经元功能障碍，导致神经元在结构和功能上都受到损伤，包括阿尔茨海默病（AD）、帕金森病（PD）、血管性痴呆（VaD）、多发性硬化症（MS）等多种疾病。我们采用 PRISMA 方法进行了系统评价，以研究 PM 暴露与神经退行性疾病之间的可能关联。使用国际数据库（PubMed、Science Direct、Web of Sciences）查找了关于该主题的已发表研究。搜索时间为 2011 年 1 月至 2021 年 6 月。大约有 2000 篇全文研究文章被选中，最终我们纳入了 20 篇全文研究文章。选定的研究表明，PM 暴露可与神经退行性疾病（AD、PD、MS、VaD）的发病有关。这种关联不仅取决于年龄、PM 水平和暴露时间，还取决于暴露于其他空气污染物、靠近交通繁忙地区以及存在合并症。PM 暴露会促进神经炎症过程，因为通过呼吸，颗粒可以到达鼻腔上皮黏膜，并通过嗅球转移到大脑。此外，PM 暴露与神经退行性疾病标志物（如α-突触核蛋白或β-淀粉样蛋白）的表达增加有关，这可能有助于神经退行性疾病的病因发病机制。尽管许多研究揭示了 PM 暴露与认知障碍之间的病理关系，但 PM 导致神经退行性疾病的潜在细胞和分子机制仍不完全清楚，因此需要进一步研究这一课题。
