Accelerated Aging and Age-Related Diseases (CVD and Neurological) Due to Air Pollution and Traffic Noise Exposure

Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that only approximately 25% of diversity in longevity is explained by genetic factors, while the other 75% is largely determined by interactions with the physical and social environments. Indeed, aging is a multifactorial process that is influenced by a range of environmental, sociodemographic, and biopsychosocial factors, all of which might act in concert to determine the process of aging. The global average life expectancy increased fundamentally over the past century, toward an aging population, correlating with the development and onset of age-related diseases, mainly from cardiovascular and neurological nature. Therefore, the identification of determinants of healthy and unhealthy aging is a major goal to lower the burden and socioeconomic costs of age-related diseases. The role of environmental factors (such as air pollution and noise exposure) as crucial determinants of the aging process are being increasingly recognized. Here, we critically review recent findings concerning the pathomechanisms underlying the aging process and their correlates in cardiovascular and neurological disease, centered on oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as the influence of prominent environmental pollutants, namely air pollution and traffic noise exposure, which is suggested to accelerate the aging process. Insight into these types of relationships and appropriate preventive strategies are urgently needed to promote healthy aging.

Keywords: aging; air pollution; cardiovascular disease; inflammation; neurological disease; oxidative stress; traffic noise exposure.

Figure 1

The exposome concept. (A) The exposome comprises the totality of a person’s external and internal exposures, from birth to death. (B) The external exposures and their internal exposure-related biochemical changes accumulate steadily over the aging process and lead to altered health risks. Adapted from Vrijheid et al. [2] (upper part, Copyright © 2021, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. and the British Thoracic Society) and Misra [3] (lower part, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), Copyright © 2021 Misra) with permission.

Figure 2

(A) Age-specific crude incidence of confirmed major cardiovascular disease by type of first event (non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease). Reused from [13] with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, Copyright © Driver et al. 2008. (B) Risk of common neurological diseases for 45-year-old men and women. In this analysis, follow-up ended at time of first occurrence of dementia, stroke, or parkinsonism. For instance, for individuals who first suffered a stroke and subsequently developed dementia, only the stroke event is considered. Reused from [14] with permission, Copyright © 2021, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. All rights reserved. (C) Predicted values of relative risk for cardiovascular mortality by chronic exposure to increasing particulate matter concentrations for high ozone levels (37.60 ppb, solid blue line) and low ozone levels (20.26 ppb, solid red line) with uncertainty intervals (dashed lines). Reused from [15] with permission under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, Copyright © 2021, The Author(s). (D) Exposure-response relationships for the associations between transportation noise and cardiovascular health outcomes. Road—road traffic noise, Air—aircraft noise, Hyp—hypertension, CHD—coronary heart disease, and Lden—day-evening-night level, i.e., the average sound pressure level measured over a 24-h period. Reused from [16] with permission, Copyright © 2021, Oxford University Press.

Figure 3

Pathophysiological mechanisms of neurological and cardiovascular disease induced by air pollution and noise exposure. Arrows indicate directions of pathways and pathomechanisms. Red circles indicate the release adverse signaling ROS. Summarized from Münzel et al. [142] and presented data in the present review article. Created with BioRender.com.

Figure 4

Convergence of pathomechanisms underlying the aging process as well as the environmental stressor traffic noise exposure and air pollution, leading to an increased risk of CVD and neurological disease. Blue dots indicate released adverse signaling cytokines and red circles the release of detrimental ROS. Created with BioRender.com.