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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Dement.
Sec. Aging and Risk Factors for Dementia
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1402091

Traffic-related air pollution and APOE4 can synergistically affect hippocampal volume in older women: New findings from UK Biobank

Provisionally accepted
Vladimir A. Popov Vladimir A. Popov *Svetlana V. Ukraintseva Svetlana V. Ukraintseva *Hongzhe Duan Hongzhe Duan Anatoliy I. Yashin Anatoliy I. Yashin Konstantin G. Arbeev Konstantin G. Arbeev
  • Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A growing research body supports the connection between neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), and traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. A deeper investigation of TRAP effects on hippocampal volume (HV), a major biomarker of neurodegeneration, may help clarify these mechanisms. Here we explored TRAP associations with the HV in older participants of the UK Biobank (UKB), taking into account the presence of APOE e4 allele (APOE4), the strongest genetic risk factor for AD. Exposure to TRAP was approximated by the distance of the participant's main residence to the nearest major road (DNMR). The left/right HV was measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cubic millimeters (mm 3 ). Analysis of variance (ANOVA), Welch test, and regression were used to examine statistical significance. We found significant interactions between DNMR and APOE4 that influenced HV. Specifically, DNMR less than 50 meters (equivalent of a chronically high exposure to TRAP), and carrying APOE4 were synergistically associated with a significant (P-value=0.01) reduction in the right HV by about 2.5% in women aged 60-75 years (results for men didn't reach a statistical significance). Results of our study suggest that TRAP and APOE4 jointly promote neurodegeneration in women. Living farther from major roads may help reduce the risks of neurodegenerative disorders, including AD, in female APOE4 carriers.

    Keywords: hippocampal volume, neurodegeneration, Air Pollution, TRAP, Major road, APOE, Aging, Alzheimer Disease

    Received: 16 Mar 2024; Accepted: 10 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Popov, Ukraintseva, Duan, Yashin and Arbeev. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Vladimir A. Popov, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, United States
    Svetlana V. Ukraintseva, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.