Investigating the chronic impacts of urban air quality on the brain using wild grey squirrels as sentinels for urban wildlife

使用野生灰松鼠作为城市野生动物的哨兵，研究城市空气质量对大脑的长期影响

• 批准号: 2547265
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2547265
• 关键词: Investigating; chronic; impacts; urban; air

Air pollution is recognised globally as one of the deadliest hazards to human health. Urban air pollution has a unique physiochemistry and contains hazardous levels of metal particulates originating mainly from traffic-related sources. Epidemiological studies on humans and companion animals have associated exposure to high levels of air pollutants with cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and more recently, poor cognitive development and increased incidence of dementia. Despite strong correlative evidence of the impact of air pollution on human health and cognition, there is very limited empirical evidence for impacts on other urban animals. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the causative mechanisms underlying the observed cognitive decline, though it has been proposed that airborne metal particles may access the brain via uptake by olfactory neurons. This studentship aims to use the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), an invasive rodent found throughout the UK and culled as part of UK control programs, to elucidate the mechanisms associated with the uptake of metal air pollutants in the brain. This will allow me to measure metal-pollution exposure pathways into the brain and quantify metal accumulation and spatial distribution of metal particles. Furthermore, I will measure response to metal pollution exposure by examining markers of stress and epigenetic changes in these individuals as well as signs of disease development by assessing levels of brain inflammation and neurodegeneration through histopathology and differences in cognition in populations of grey squirrels living at a gradient of metal air pollution from highly polluted inner-city populations to those living in rural woodlands with lower urban-traffic exposures.

空气污染被全球公认为对人类健康最致命的危害之一。城市空气污染具有独特的物理化学性质，并且含有主要来自交通相关来源的危险水平的金属颗粒。对人类和伴侣动物的流行病学研究表明，接触高浓度的空气污染物与癌症、心血管和呼吸系统疾病以及最近的认知发育不良和痴呆症发病率增加有关。尽管有强有力的相关证据表明空气污染对人类健康和认知的影响，但对其他城市动物影响的经验证据非常有限。此外，尽管有人提出空气中的金属颗粒可能通过嗅觉神经元的摄取进入大脑，但对所观察到的认知能力下降的致病机制的了解有限。该奖学金旨在利用东部灰松鼠（Sciurus carolinensis）（一种在英国各地发现并作为英国控制计划的一部分被扑杀的入侵啮齿动物）来阐明与大脑吸收金属空气污染物相关的机制。这将使我能够测量进入大脑的金属污染暴露途径，并量化金属积累和金属颗粒的空间分布。此外，我将通过检查这些个体的压力标记和表观遗传变化来测量对金属污染暴露的反应，并通过组织病理学评估脑炎症和神经退行性变的水平来评估疾病发展的迹象，以及生活在金属空气污染梯度中的灰松鼠种群的认知差异，从污染严重的内城种群到生活在城市交通暴露较低的农村林地的灰松鼠种群。