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Brain Sciences
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Molecular Mechanisms in Neuronal Cells Induced by Air Pollution and...
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Molecular Mechanisms in Neuronal Cells Induced by Air Pollution and Their Involvement in Neurodegenerative Diseases

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 6494

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Paola Palestini

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza, Italy
2. POLARIS Research Centre, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
Interests: air pollution outdoor; PM2.5; ultrafine particles; in-vivo and in-vitro models; neurodegenerative diseases infiammatory and oxidant biochemical cellular pathway; anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of phytoextracts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollutants are released into the atmosphere and can cause significant harm to humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 3.5 million people die each year because of urban and indoor air pollution, making this a leading environmental health risk. PM can be classified according to its size: PM10 (≤10 um); PM2.5 (≤2.5 um), and PM0.1 (smaller than 100 nm, also known as ultrafine particles (UFPs), which includes nanoparticles (NPs)). Of these, UFPs have the potential to exert significant harm, as particles of this size can escape scavenging by alveolar macrophages. These particles also penetrate deep into the respiratory tract where they can be absorbed by the bloodstream. Although there is an increasing assumption that UFPs are deleterious to human health, very little is known about the cellular, molecular, and genetic/epigenetic alterations that may affect the incidence/severity of chronic disease in individuals exposed to UFPs. Deposition patterns have revealed that the lungs are the primary target, although particles have been detected in other organs including the liver, kidney, heart, and brain. UFPs are also the most consistently implicated in adverse neurological processes. PM is known to be a persistent source of neuroinflammation and reactive oxygen species (ROS), processes strongly related to the pathogenesis of central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Accordingly, air pollution exposure is associated with exacerbated cognitive dysfunction and enhanced progression of neurodegenerative processes underlying Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases as well as adverse vascular effects. In addition, a relationship between stroke and air pollution has been established over the past decade. Thus, this Special Issue of Brain Sciences aims to examine the molecular mechanisms elicited by air pollution and their association with CNS pathologies.

Prof. Paola Palestini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Air Pollution
  • Nervous System
  • Inflammation
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Neurodegenerative Disease

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
Effect of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Exposure on Cognitive Development in 5 Years Old Children
by Barbora Blazkova, Anna Pastorkova, Ivo Solansky, Milos Veleminsky, Jr., Milos Veleminsky, Katerina Urbancova, Veronika Vondraskova, Jana Hajslova, Jana Pulkrabova and Radim J. Sram
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(9), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10090619 - 07 Sep 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2544
Abstract
Objectives: To analyze the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air at the time of delivery and five years of age on cognitive development in five year old children. Materials and Methods: Two cohorts of children born in the [...] Read more.
Objectives: To analyze the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air at the time of delivery and five years of age on cognitive development in five year old children. Materials and Methods: Two cohorts of children born in the years 2013 and 2014 from Karvina (Northern Moravia, n = 70) and Ceske Budejovice (Southern Bohemia, n = 99) were studied at the age of five years for their cognitive development related to the exposure to PAHs, determined in the ambient air as the concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and OH–PAH (hydroxy-PAH) metabolites in urine of the newborns at the time of delivery. As psychological tests, the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (BG test) and the Raven Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM test) were used. Results: Concentrations of B[a]P in the third trimester of mother’s pregnancies were 6.1 ± 4.53 ng/m3 in Karvina, and 1.19 ± 1.28 ng/m3 (p < 0.001) in Ceske Budejovice. Neither the outcome of the RCPM test nor the BG test differed between children in Karvina vs. Ceske Budejovice, or boys vs. girls. Cognitive development in five year old children was affected by the higher exposure to PM2.5 during the third trimester in girls in Karvina. Conclusions: We did not observe any significant effect of prenatal PAH exposure on psychological cognitive tests in five year old children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms in Neuronal Cells Induced by Air Pollution and Their Involvement in Neurodegenerative Diseases)
11 pages, 234 KiB  
Article
Association between Exposure to Air Pollution and Total Gray Matter and Total White Matter Volumes in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Lance D. Erickson, Shawn D. Gale, Jacqueline E. Anderson, Bruce L. Brown and Dawson W. Hedges
Brain Sci. 2020, 10(3), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10030164 - 13 Mar 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3513
Abstract
Total brain gray-matter and white-matter volumes can be indicators of overall brain health. Among the factors associated with gray-matter and white-matter volumes is exposure to air pollution. Using data from the UK Biobank, we sought to determine associations between several components of air [...] Read more.
Total brain gray-matter and white-matter volumes can be indicators of overall brain health. Among the factors associated with gray-matter and white-matter volumes is exposure to air pollution. Using data from the UK Biobank, we sought to determine associations between several components of air pollution—PM2.5, PM2.5–10, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxides—and total gray-matter and total white-matter volumes in multivariable regression models in a large sample of adults. We found significant inverse associations between PM2.5 concentration and total white-matter volume and between PM2.5, PM2.5–10, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxide concentrations and total gray-matter volume in models adjusted for age, sex, body-mass index, self-assessment of overall health, frequency of alcohol use, smoking status, educational attainment, and income. These findings of pollutant-associated decreases in total gray-matter and total white-matter volumes are in the context of mean PM2.5 concentrations near the upper limit of the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Similarly, mean PM10 concentrations were below the recommended upper limit, and nitrogen dioxide concentration was slightly above. Still, there are many areas in the world with much higher concentrations of these pollutants, which could be associated with larger effects. If replicated, these findings suggest that air pollution could be a risk factor for neurodegeneration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms in Neuronal Cells Induced by Air Pollution and Their Involvement in Neurodegenerative Diseases)
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