The Association of Long-Term Exposure to Particulate Matter Air Pollution with Brain MRI Findings: The ARIC Study. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence links higher particulate matter (PM) air pollution exposure to late-life cognitive impairment. However, few studies have considered associations between direct estimates of long-term past exposures and brain MRI findings indicative of neurodegeneration or cerebrovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to quantify the association between brain MRI findings and PM exposures approximately 5 to 20 y prior to MRI in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. METHODS: ARIC is based in four U.S. sites: Washington County, Maryland; Minneapolis suburbs, Minnesota; Forsyth County, North Carolina; and Jackson, Mississippi. A subset of ARIC participants underwent 3T brain MRI in 2011-2013 (n=1,753). We estimated mean exposures to PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 or 2.5m (PM10 and PM2.5) in 1990-1998, 1999-2007, and 1990-2007 at the residential addresses of eligible participants with MRI data. We estimated site-specific associations between PM and brain MRI findings and used random-effect, inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis to combine them. RESULTS: In pooled analyses, higher mean PM2.5 and PM10 exposure in all time periods were associated with smaller deep-gray brain volumes, but not other MRI markers. Higher PM2.5 exposures were consistently associated with smaller total and regional brain volumes in Minnesota, but not elsewhere. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term past PM exposure in was not associated with markers of cerebrovascular disease. Higher long-term past PM exposures were associated with smaller deep-gray volumes overall, and higher PM2.5 exposures were associated with smaller brain volumes in the Minnesota site. Further work is needed to understand the sources of heterogeneity across sites. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2152.

published proceedings

  • Environ Health Perspect

altmetric score

  • 7

author list (cited authors)

  • Power, M. C., Lamichhane, A. P., Liao, D., Xu, X., Jack, C. R., Gottesman, R. F., ... Whitsel, E. A.

citation count

  • 68

complete list of authors

  • Power, Melinda C||Lamichhane, Archana P||Liao, Duanping||Xu, Xiaohui||Jack, Clifford R||Gottesman, Rebecca F||Mosley, Thomas||Stewart, James D||Yanosky, Jeff D||Whitsel, Eric A

publication date

  • February 2018