People with higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution are more likely to have high amounts of amyloid plaque in their brains, which is linked to Alzheimer’s disease
People with higher exposure to air pollution related to road traffic are more likely to have high amounts of amyloid plaque in their brains, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This is according to research published in the online issue of the American Academy of Neurology’s medical journal Neurology.
Researchers examined the brain tissue of 224 people who agreed to donate their brains upon death to advance dementia research. People died at an average of 76 years. The researchers then looked at air pollution exposure based on their home address in the Atlanta area at the time of death. They looked at PM 2.5, which consists of airborne pollutant particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter that are a major source of air pollution in urban areas, such as the Atlanta metro area, where most of the donors lived. The mean exposure level in the year before death was 1.32 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) and 1.35 μg/m3 in the three years before death.
The researchers then compared the pollution exposure with measurements of Alzheimer’s disease markers in the brain, amyloid plaques and tau protein bundles. They found that people with higher exposure to air pollution one and three years before their death were more likely to have higher levels of amyloid plaques in their brains. People with fine particulate matter exposure 1 µg/m3 higher one year before death were almost twice as likely to have higher plaque levels, while people with higher exposure in the three years before death were 87% more likely to have have higher plaque levels.
In addition, they found that the strongest link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease was among those patients who did not have the gene variant associated with the disease (APOE e4).
As the researchers clarify, however, the study does not prove that air pollution causes more amyloid plaques in the brain, it only shows an association. Additionally, they note that a limitation of the study is that they only had people’s home address at the time of their death, so it’s possible that pollution exposure was misclassified.
Source :Skai
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