Nanjing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 72 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210008, China.
School of Nursing, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
J Biomed Sci. 2022 Feb 22;29(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12929-022-00799-x.
The increasing amount of particulate matter (PM) in the ambient air is a pressing public health issue globally. Epidemiological studies involving data from millions of patients or volunteers have associated PM with increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the elderly and cognitive dysfunction and neurodegenerative pathology across all age groups, suggesting that PM may be a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Neurodegenerative diseases affect an increasing population in this aging society, putting a heavy burden on economics and family. Therefore, understanding the mechanism by which PM contributes to neurodegeneration is essential to develop effective interventions. Evidence in human and animal studies suggested that PM induced neurodenegerative-like pathology including neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and damage in blood-brain barrier and neurovascular units, which may contribute to the increased risk of neurodegeneration. Interestingly, antagonizing oxidative stress alleviated the neurotoxicity of PM, which may underlie the essential role of oxidative stress in PM's potential effect in neurodegeneration. This review summarized up-to-date epidemiological and experimental studies on the pathogenic role of PM in neurodegenerative diseases and discussed the possible underlying mechanisms.
空气中颗粒物（PM）的数量不断增加是一个紧迫的全球公共卫生问题。涉及数百万患者或志愿者数据的流行病学研究表明，PM 与老年人痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病风险增加以及所有年龄段的认知功能障碍和神经退行性病变有关，这表明 PM 可能是神经退行性疾病的一个风险因素。在这个老龄化社会中，神经退行性疾病影响的人群越来越多，给经济和家庭带来了沉重的负担。因此，了解 PM 导致神经退行性变的机制对于开发有效的干预措施至关重要。人类和动物研究的证据表明，PM 诱导了神经退行性样病变，包括神经毒性、神经炎症、氧化应激以及血脑屏障和神经血管单元的损伤，这可能导致神经退行性变风险增加。有趣的是，拮抗氧化应激减轻了 PM 的神经毒性，这可能是氧化应激在 PM 对神经退行性变的潜在作用中的关键作用。本综述总结了有关 PM 在神经退行性疾病中的致病作用的最新流行病学和实验研究，并讨论了可能的潜在机制。
