Air pollution associated with markers of neurodegenerative disease

Scientists recently discovered that the brains of young persons exposed to polluting of the environment display the markers of neurodegenerative diseases in their brain stems.

A fresh study has demonstrated that adults and children subjected to polluting of the environment have the markers of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and motor neuron disease within their brain stems.

Alongside these markers were nanoparticles that appeared to result from vehicles’ internal combustion and braking systems.

The study, which appears in the journal Environmental Research, highlights the necessity to do more to protect young people from the effects of air pollution in order to avoid “a worldwide neurodegenerative epidemic.”

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as for example Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and motor neuron disease affect a substantial number of people across the world. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note that in 2014, about 5 million persons in the USA had Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists have a good understanding of what happens to a person’s brain and nervous system in each one of these diseases. However, they are less clear about the essential causes.

The CDC, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke say that Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and motor neuron disease tend to due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

One environmental factor that may donate to the development of neurodegenerative diseases is polluting the environment.

Research has shown a link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease. However, the link between Parkinson’s disease and polluting of the environment is less clear, and there's been limited research on the consequences of air pollution on motor neuron disease.

In the recent study, the researchers attempt to identify the markers for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and motor neuron disease in the mind stem of deceased young persons from Mexico City.

They wished to see if they could link these diseases to any indication of polluting of the environment nanoparticles in the individuals’ brain stems.

The researchers examined material from 186 autopsies that occurred between 2004 and 2008. The individuals ranged in age from 11 months to 40 years.

Pathologists performed the initial autopsies a couple of hours after death and then stored the materials, including elements of the mind stem, at -80°C (-112°F) before researchers examined them.

In the mind stems, the researchers found markers for not merely Alzheimer’s disease but also Parkinson’s disease and motor neuron disease. These markers included growths of nerve cells and misformed proteins that had caused tangles and plaques.

Significantly, alongside these markers, the researchers also found particles that were likely to be the product of vehicle air pollution.

According to Prof. Barbara Maher from Lancaster University in Britain, who is a co-author of the analysis, “[n]ot only did the brain stems of the young people in the study show the ‘neuropathological hallmarks’ of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and [motor neuron disease], they also had high concentrations of iron-, aluminum-, and titanium-rich nanoparticles in the brain stem - particularly in the substantia nigra and cerebellum.”

Prof. Maher continues: “The iron- and aluminum-rich nanoparticles within the mind stem are strikingly similar to those which occur as combustion- and friction-derived particles in air pollution (from engines and braking systems).”

“The titanium-rich particles in the mind were different - distinctively needle-like in form; similar particles were seen in the nerve cells of the gut wall, suggesting these particles reach the brain after being swallowed and moving from the gut into the nerve cells which connect the mind stem with the digestive tract.”

Based on the researchers, the areas where in fact the individuals had lived could have exposed them to high degrees of fine particulate matter.

Various factors cause this sort of pollution, including dust, smoke, vehicle braking wear, and the interaction of atmospheric gases that vehicles and commercial sites produce during combustion.

On the other hand, a control band of age-matched deceased persons who lived in low pollution areas did not show the markers of neurodegenerative disease.

Neurodegenerative epidemic?

For the researchers, the co-presence of particles from urban polluting of the environment and markers of neurodegenerative diseases is a serious cause for concern. The researchers come to mind that an epidemic of neurodegenerative illness could occur as young persons around the world who are exposed to air pollution get older.

As Prof. Maher explains, “[i]t’s critical to comprehend the links between your nanoparticles you’re breathing in or swallowing and the impacts those metal-rich particles are then having on different areas of the human brain.”

“Different people could have different levels of vulnerability to such particulate exposure, but our new findings indicate that what air pollutants you face, what you are inhaling and swallowing, are really significant in the development of neurological damage.”