Recent extensive evidence indicates that air pollution, in addition to causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, may also negatively affect the brain and contribute to central nervous system diseases. Air pollution is comprised of ambient particulate matter (PM) of different sizes, gases, organic compounds, and metals. An important contributor to PM is represented by traffic-related air pollution, mostly ascribed to diesel exhaust (DE). Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that exposure to air pollution may be associated with multiple adverse effects on the central nervous system. In addition to a variety of behavioral abnormalities, the most prominent effects caused by air pollution are oxidative stress and neuro-inflammation, which are seen in both humans and animals, and are supported by in vitro studies. Among factors which can affect neurotoxic outcomes, age is considered most relevant. Human and animal studies suggest that air pollution may cause developmental neurotoxicity, and may contribute to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. In addition, air pollution exposure has been associated with increased expression of markers of neurodegenerative disease pathologies, such as alpha-synuclein or beta-amyloid, and may thus contribute to the etiopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

中文翻译：

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空气污染对神经系统的影响及其在神经发育和神经退行性疾病中的可能作用。

最近的大量证据表明，空气污染除了引起呼吸系统和心血管疾病外，还可能对大脑产生负面影响，导致中枢神经系统疾病。空气污染由不同大小的环境颗粒物 (PM)、气体、有机化合物和金属组成。PM2.5 的一个重要贡献者是与交通相关的空气污染，主要归因于柴油机尾气 (DE)。流行病学和动物研究表明，接触空气污染可能与中枢神经系统的多种不良影响有关。除了各种行为异常之外，空气污染引起的最显着影响是氧化应激和神经炎症，这些影响在人类和动物中都存在，并得到了体外研究的支持。在影响神经毒性结果的因素中，年龄被认为是最相关的。人类和动物研究表明，空气污染可能会导致发育神经毒性，并可能导致神经发育障碍（包括自闭症谱系障碍）的病因学。此外，空气污染暴露与神经退行性疾病病理标志物的表达增加有关，例如α-突触核蛋白或β-淀粉样蛋白，因此可能有助于神经退行性疾病，特别是阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病的发病机制。