Studies air pollution an Alzheimer's cause?

Effects of air pollution on the brain studied
The high levels of air pollution in many cities and regions are associated with significant adverse health effects, with damage to the lungs and cardiovascular system being the primary focus. However, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Environmental Medicine Research have also shown a connection with the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers of the IUF in Dusseldorf, in cooperation with the Dutch Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven and the working group for molecular psychiatry at the University Medical Center Göttingen, could prove "that airborne pollutants from road traffic in a mouse model (...) the formation of the Accelerate plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease and increase motor deficits. "Air pollution could therefore have a significant impact on Alzheimer's risk. Their results published the researchers in the journal "Particle and Fiber Toxicology".

High air pollution leads to the increased formation of protein deposits in the brain, which in turn are associated with the development of Alzheimer's. (Image: Ralf Geithe / fotolia.com)

Air pollution with negative effects on the brain
Over the past few years, there has been growing evidence that air pollution has a negative impact on brain function, which may affect the development or progression of old-age diseases such as Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, the researchers report. In an epidemiological study with older women in 2009 researchers of the IUF had "worldwide for the first time a statistical connection (so-called association) between long-term traffic-related particulate matter pollution and the reduction of cognitive abilities" pointed out, so the communication of the IUF. Such an impairment is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's.

Dementia risk increased on busy roads
Further studies confirmed the suspicion of an association between air pollution and brain damage. For example, a large epidemiological study from Canada recently came to the conclusion that there is an association between dementia and housing on busy roads, the IUF reports. In the epidemiological studies, however, only connections are shown, without ascertaining whether a causal connection, that is, a causal connection, can be proven here.

Increased formation of harmful plaques in the brain
In order to clarify the underlying mechanisms of a possible causal link between air pollution and brain diseases, in 2012 the IUF initiated the international Leibniz project AIRBAG (AIR pollutants and brain aging research group), which was commissioned by Dr. med. Roel Schins (IUF) and Prof. Flemming Cassee (RIVM). The results of the studies in mice in which the animals were exposed to airborne pollutants from diesel vehicles, make it clear that the formation of Alzheimer's amyloid plaques (protein deposits in the brain) accelerated in air pollution and the motor deficits increase.

Causal link proved
In their study, the scientists were able to demonstrate that there is a causal relationship between contact with airborne pollutants and harmful protein deposits in the brain. The study "builds a bridge to existing epidemiological findings" and "our findings suggest that there is a causal link between air pollution and central nervous system disorders," Dr. Schins.

Further studies required
The director of the IUF Professor Jean Krutmann emphasizes that further studies must now clarify "whether the same results in real road traffic are reproducible, what relevance the findings have for humans, which components (soot particles or gaseous substances) of the exhaust gas mixture the damage In fact, the harmful effects of air pollution could have a much more far-reaching effect than previously thought. Efforts to reduce particulate matter in cities therefore seem not only appropriate but urgently needed. (Fp)