ABSTRACT
Air pollution is a global issue that threatens human health. In recent years, more and more studies have found that air pollution is closely related to the occurrence of depression. As a serious neuropsychiatric disorder whose incidence is rising rapidly year by year, depression has become an invisible killer of public health. At present, studies on the correlation between air pollution and depression are still very limited, and the underlying molecular mechanisms by which air pollution affects depression are not clear. Based on existing epidemiological and toxicological studies, this paper provided a review of the relationship between air pollution and depression and the possible biological mechanisms, with a focus on the relationship between air pollution and depression indicators and the possible factors affecting depression such as types of air pollutants, exposure time, age and health status of study subjects. In addition, the potential roles of neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, neurogenesis, and apoptosis in the process of air pollution-induced depression were also discussed in order to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of air pollution-induced depression.
ABSTRACT
Near-surface ozone is a profoundly reactive and highly oxidizing gas and one of the critical respiratory toxicants. Numerous epidemiological investigations have indicated that asthmatic individuals are the vulnerable group of ozone exposure, and there is a strong correlation between ozone exposure and asthma morbidity and mortality rates. The potential mechanisms include oxidative stress, inflammatory response, autonomic nerve impairment, and immune dysfunction. The present study summarized and discussed the effect of ozone exposure on asthma and its underlying biological mechanisms in order to galvanize public cognizance concerning the perils of ozone pollution and serve as a reference for future research on ozone exposure and asthma.
ABSTRACT
Air pollution is one of the most important environmental issues in China and worldwide, as well as a critical public health problem affecting human health. With the implementation of emission reduction and other programs, the air quality in China has been improved dramatically in recent years, but is still worse than the WHO guideline recommended levels. Numerous epidemiological and toxicological studies have shown that short-term or long-term exposure to air pollution is strongly associated with respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and so forth, in which interleukin-6 (IL-6), a well-known inflammatory factor, may play an important role. Studies have found that IL-6 can bind to interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R) , which leads to the recruiting and activation of glycoprotein 130, and then the formed IL-6/IL-6R/gp130 complex triggers the janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, Src homology-2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2/mitogen-activated protein kinase, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathways. All of these signaling pathways are found to be involved in a variety of physiopathological processes. In the present review, information about the IL-6 signaling pathway and its role in air pollution-induced adverse health effects was systematically reviewed, hoping to provide insights for the future prevention and control policies.
ABSTRACT
Recently, the adverse health effects of air pollution on human have attracted more and more attentions. Particulate matters (such as PM2.5 and PM10, with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5 and ≤10 µm, respectively) and ozone are the major ambient pollutants in China. A large number of studies have shown that exposure to particulate matters or ozone induces metabolic abnormalities, such as type 2 diabetes. However, the underlying biological mechanisms are not clear. In this review, we introduced the epidemiological and toxicological research progress of the effects of air pollutants on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Considering the critical role of HPA axis in stress response, the molecular mechanisms of HPA axis-mediated glucose metabolism in fat, liver, muscle, and other tissues were also summarized. By integrating relevant literature and references, we proposed that HPA axis may play an important role in the abnormal glucose metabolism caused by air pollution, providing a scientific basis for future studies on the intervention methods of adverse health effects induced by air pollution.
ABSTRACT
Background Domestic waste classification is one of the major livelihood projects in China. With the introduction of the Shanghai Household Waste Management Regulation in 2019, the work of domestic waste classification has been carried out nationwide, yet its potential risks especially those derived from microorganisms are not clear. Objective To investigate the microbial characteristics of the domestic waste in typical residential areas in Shanghai, and provide a theoretical basis for health protection during the domestic waste classification process in Shanghai and throughout China. Methods Dry and wet waste from a typical residential community in Shanghai were collected during 2019–2020. Microbial colonies were counted in domestic waste and analyzed for growth patterns. Then through 16S rRNA sequencing using lllumina PE250, hierarchical clustering analysis was conducted to reveal the similarity and dissimilarity of community compositions in different domestic waste groups, alpha diversity was estimated to reflect the richness and diversity of bacterial communities, principal co-ordinates analysis of unweighted UniFrac distance was performed to estimate the beta diversity, and linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) was used to find features differentially represented among domestic waste groups. Results In the chosen typical residential community of this study, the numbers of microorganisms in waste were quite different, with lower numbers of microorganisms in dry waste than the numbers in wet waste. In addition, different growth curves of microorganisms were shown for different seasons, and the peak baterial colony numbers were 200 CFU·cm−2, 6×105 CFU·mL−1, 10 CFU·cm−2, and 2×106 CFU·mL−1 for summer dry waste, summer wet waste, winter dry waste, and winter wet waste, respectively. The results of 16S RNA demonstrated significant differences in α and β diversity indicators among different waste groups, and the difference in waste classifications was larger than the difference of the same classification of waste in different seasons. The main compositions of bacterial colonies in domestic waste was Proteobacteria, followed by Firmicute and Bacteroidota. The clustering analysis showed that the microbial composition in summer dry waste was close to that in winter dry waste, while other groups were quite different. In total 48 differential bacterial taxa were found at the level of genus including Pseudomonas and Pantoea. Conclusion Different seasons and different classifications of domestic waste present varied microbial characteristics, with different potential pathogenic microorganisms. Together with other related studies, we suggest that different measures should be taken for different domestic wastes to prevent and control the health hazards associated with waste classification.