From particulates to pathways: environmental exposures and their impact on Alzheimer's disease

Bing Liu; Muhammad Arslan Ahmad; Ghulam Abbas; Usama Ahmed; Rabia Javed; Ilyas Ali; Qiang Ao; Xu Deng

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149880

From particulates to pathways: environmental exposures and their impact on Alzheimer's disease

Brain Res. 2025 Oct 15:1865:149880. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149880. Epub 2025 Aug 8.

Authors

Bing Liu¹, Muhammad Arslan Ahmad², Ghulam Abbas³, Usama Ahmed⁴, Rabia Javed⁵, Ilyas Ali⁶, Qiang Ao⁷, Xu Deng⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Traffic and Environment, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology, Shenzhen 518172, China.
² Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresource and Eco-environmental Science, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: arslan.slu@gmail.com.
³ Guangdong Key Laboratory for Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
⁴ Department of Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen 518060, China.
⁵ School of Science and the Environment, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Corner Brook A2H 5G4 Newfoundland, Canada.
⁶ Department of Medical Cell Biology and Genetics, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
⁷ NMPA Key Laboratory for Quality Research and Control of Tissue Regenerative Biomaterial & Institute of Regulatory Science for Medical Device & National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
⁸ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresource and Eco-environmental Science, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. Electronic address: dengxu@szu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40784621
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2025.149880

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of cognitive decline and mortality, with its neurobiological mechanisms and etiology still not fully understood. Emerging evidence highlights the significant role of environmental pollutants in AD onset and progression. This review examines the impact of environmental compartments-air, water, soil, and pollutants-on AD pathology. Prolonged exposure to particulate matter (PM_2.5), heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic), and engineered nanomaterials (silver, iron oxide, silica) increases AD risk. Additional factors like obesity, smoking, infections, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and electromagnetic fields may exacerbate AD. These exposures potentially drive key pathological features such as amyloid-β plaque deposition and tau protein aggregation. By analyzing recent studies, this review highlights the intersection between environmental exposure and AD progression, emphasizing how such factors can accelerate the disease. It provides practical guidelines to mitigate these risks, aiming to reduce AD incidence while advancing understanding of its environmental contributions.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Environmental risk factors; Heavy metals; Nanotoxicity; Reactive oxygen species.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Alzheimer Disease* / etiology
Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
Alzheimer Disease* / pathology
Animals
Environmental Exposure* / adverse effects
Environmental Pollutants / adverse effects
Humans
Particulate Matter* / adverse effects

Substances

Particulate Matter
Environmental Pollutants