A 5-day exposure to fine dust increases brain inflammation by 30%

According to the researchers, the continuous inhalation of fine dust increases by 30% the amount of inflammatory substances produced by immune cells of the brain. The number of neurons that absorb the toxins responsible for obesity and cancer has also doubled. In fact, fine dust penetrates the nervous tissue, disrupting the immune system and causing mutations to attack normal cells.

Fine dust refers to fine particles with a diameter of 10 μm (micrometer) that float in the air, including air pollutants such as lead, chromium, heavy metals and carbon monoxide. When the size is less than or equal to 2.5 μm, it is PM 2.5 and "ultrafine dust". Fine dust is known to be closely related to respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

A team of researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) School of Medicine, Robin Barbaro Johnny, divided the group of eight 16-week-old rats into two groups and verified their physical responses to fine dust.

Eight rats were exposed for 150 hours in the same environment as the fine dust levels in urban Los Angeles. I also stayed in a container containing fine dust about 5 hours at a time, and the experiment was performed three times a week for 10 weeks in total. Eight other rats were exposed to an environment free of fine dust for 5 hours a day. Los Angeles's fine dust is about two-thirds of that in Seoul, and ultrafine dust is about half.

After that, the brain of the mice was dissected and the concentration of fine dust compared to that of nerve inflammation. As a result, the number of microglial cells causing inflammation in the brain of mice exposed to fine dust was about 87 per 1 mm 2 (square millimeter), about 30% more than that of 67 people in the group. opposite. Microglial cells produce large amounts of inflammatory mediators to kill nerve cells in the brain, causing Parkinson's disease, dementia, and other degenerative brain diseases. In addition, C5α, a neuronal cell receptor involved in cancer, obesity and inflammation, accounted for four times per square millimeter of rats exposed to fine dust, twice more than the other groups. The moments of exercise, food, etc. did not affect the experimental results.

Recently, microporous PM2.5 accumulates in the blood, resulting in heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. The researchers noted the process by which fine dust affects nerve cells and brain tissue. If you identify the process by which fine dust accumulates in your body and causes disease, this can lead to the development of therapeutic agents capable of removing fine dust from your body.

The researchers discovered that it was important to prevent the inhalation of fine dust by wearing a mask to reduce inflammation of the brain and nerve cells. Additional studies have also shown that estrogen has some effects on the production of female hormones.

Professor Robin, who led the experiment, said, "This testifies to the correlation between micropowder and brain diseases." The results of the study were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Science and Libraries (Plos One).

(Seoul = News 1)