University of California in Davis found a connection between air pollution due to transport and high risk of dementia development, including a deadly and incurable alzheimer’s disease. The article is published in the environmental Health Perspectives magazine. This is reported in a press release on Eurekalert!.
In the course of the experiment, the researchers were subjected to males and females of rats with purified or contaminated air for 14 months. Experts used both wild-type animals and those that had genes that contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease and similar human DNAs. Rodents were tested for 3-, 6-, 10- and 15th month to quantify possible manifestations of dementia, including neuropathological changes and violations of behavior.
It turned out that air pollution associated with road movement increased Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers not only in animals that express risk gene, but also in wild-type rats. According to researchers, it means that poor air quality can really contribute to the development of dementia in old age and explain why the number of Alzheimer’s cases is growing worldwide.
In the brain of animals, ultra-high solid particles were found, whose level in the air is not monitored in contrast to particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometer (PM2.5). According to scientists, it is necessary to revise the current standards, since they do not exclude the harmful effects on an aging brain.