Environmental pollution linked to amyloid plaques in brain

Exposure to more traffic-related air pollution is associated with greater levels of amyloid plaques in the brain, with exposure in the 3 years before death having the greatest risk, a new postmortem study showed.

Investigators examined the brain tissue of 224 people living in the Atlanta area who agreed to donate their brains after death (average age of death, 76 years) for the presence of amyloid plaques and tau tangles.

They also studied the amount of fine particulate matter < 2.5 microns (PM2.5) from traffic-related air pollution at participants' home addresses at 1, 3, and 5 years before death.

People with 1 µg/m3 higher PM2.5 exposure in the year before death were nearly twice as likely to have higher levels of plaques (odds ratio [OR], 1.92; 95% CI, 1.12-3.30), while those with higher exposure in the 3 years before death were 87% more likely to have higher levels of plaques (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.01-3.17).

Source: Medscape