Pollutants regulate changes in pathological markers of neurodegenerative diseases: a new perspective in environmental toxicology

Neurodegenerative diseases are major global health challenges, with their pathogenesis closely linked to the abnormal aggregation of pathological proteins. Beyond genetic factors, environmental pollutants play key roles in disease onset and progression. Conventional reviews often focus on associations between specific pollutants and particular diseases. This review innovatively concentrates on the common pathogenic mechanisms of core pathological markers (e.g., Aβ, Tau, α-syn, TDP-43), systematically detailing how various pollutants, including air pollutants, metals, and persistent organic pollutants, modulate the generation, aggregation, propagation, and toxicity of pathological proteins, thereby accelerating neurodegenerative processes. We propose an integrated framework of ‘pollutants-pathogenic links-neural network failure,’ bridging environmental toxicology and molecular neurology to offer a unified novel perspective and theoretical foundation for molecular mechanism-based environmental risk assessment and targeted interventions.