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Harmful Association Identified Between Traffic Pollution, Amyloid Plaques

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Feb 22, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 22, 2024 -- Traffic-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) affects the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) score, according to a study published online Feb. 21 in Neurology.

Grace M. Christensen, Ph.D., from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using 224 brain tissue donors who died before 2020. Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology was assessed among donors using the Braak stage, CERAD score, and combined AD neuropathologic change (ABC) score. The association between traffic-related PM2.5 (based on measurements of one-, three-, and five-year average PM2.5 concentrations before death matched to home addresses) and AD hallmark pathology was examined.

Of the participants, 57 percent had at least one APOE ε4 copy. The researchers observed a significant association for traffic-related PM2.5 with the CERAD score for the one- and three-year exposure windows (odds ratios, 1.92 and 1.87, respectively). Nonsignificant associations were seen for PM2.5 with Braak stage and ABC score. Those without APOE ε4 markers had the strongest associations between PM2.5 and neuropathology markers (e.g., odds ratio, 2.31 for the CERAD score and one-year exposure window); however, the interaction between PM2.5 and APOE genotype was not significant.

"Our study found traffic-related PM2.5 exposure was associated with the CERAD score at autopsy, contributing to a growing body of evidence that PM2.5 affects β-amyloid deposition in the brain," the authors write. "More research is needed to establish causality for the association between PM2.5 and AD, including epidemiologic and mechanistic studies."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted February 2024

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