Is Exposure to Air Pollution a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases?
New research findings from NIEHS-supported researchers at the University of Montana reveal that exposure to air pollution at a young age may predispose people to develop Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. The researchers studied the brains of young people who died suddenly from causes unrelated to neurological conditions. Study subjects came from heavily polluted Mexico City or from two relatively unpolluted cities in Mexico. The primary purpose of the research was to investigate key inflammatory genes and receptors based on previous research findings demonstrating that neuroinflammatory processes lead to a chain of events that result in neurodegeneration. The highly air-pollution exposed subjects exhibited increased activity of cyclooxygenase-2, interleukin-1, and CD14 in several areas of the brain, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, oxidative stress and other evidence of inflammatory processes. The researchers also found evidence of particulate matter in the olfactory bulbs. The
