TY - JOUR
T1 - World Trade Center Site Exposure Duration Is Associated with Hippocampal and Cerebral White Matter Neuroinflammation
AU - Huang, Chuan
AU - Kritikos, Minos
AU - Sosa, Mario Serrano
AU - Hagan, Thomas
AU - Domkan, Alan
AU - Meliker, Jaymie
AU - Pellecchia, Alison C.
AU - Santiago-Michels, Stephanie
AU - Carr, Melissa A.
AU - Kotov, Roman
AU - Horton, Megan
AU - Gandy, Sam
AU - Sano, Mary
AU - Bromet, Evelyn J.
AU - Lucchini, Roberto G.
AU - Clouston, Sean A.P.
AU - Luft, Benjamin J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Responders to the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on 9/11/2001 inhaled toxic dust and experienced severe trauma for a prolonged period. Studies report that WTC site exposure duration is associated with peripheral inflammation and risk for developing early-onset dementia (EOD). Free Water Fraction (FWF) can serve as a biomarker for neuroinflammation by measuring in vivo movement of free water across neurons. The present case-controlled study aimed to examine associations between WTC site exposure duration as well as EOD status with increased hippocampal and cerebral neuroinflammation. Ninety-nine WTC responders (mean age of 56) were recruited between 2017 and 2019 (N = 48 with EOD and 51 cognitively unimpaired). Participants were matched on age, sex, occupation, race, education, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status. Participants underwent neuroimaging using diffusion tensor imaging protocols for FWF extraction. Region of interest (ROI) analysis and correlational tractography explored topographical distributions of FWF associations. Apolipoprotein-e4 allele (APOEε4) status was available for most responders (N = 91). Hippocampal FWF was significantly associated with WTC site exposure duration (r = 0.30, p = 0.003), as was cerebral white matter FWF (r = 0.20, p = 0.044). ROI analysis and correlational tractography identified regions within the limbic, frontal, and temporal lobes. Hippocampal FWF and its association with WTC exposure duration were highest when the APOEε4 allele was present (r = 0.48, p = 0.039). Our findings demonstrate that prolonged WTC site exposure is associated with increased hippocampal and cerebral white matter neuroinflammation in WTC responders, possibly exacerbated by possession of the APOEε4 allele.
AB - Responders to the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks on 9/11/2001 inhaled toxic dust and experienced severe trauma for a prolonged period. Studies report that WTC site exposure duration is associated with peripheral inflammation and risk for developing early-onset dementia (EOD). Free Water Fraction (FWF) can serve as a biomarker for neuroinflammation by measuring in vivo movement of free water across neurons. The present case-controlled study aimed to examine associations between WTC site exposure duration as well as EOD status with increased hippocampal and cerebral neuroinflammation. Ninety-nine WTC responders (mean age of 56) were recruited between 2017 and 2019 (N = 48 with EOD and 51 cognitively unimpaired). Participants were matched on age, sex, occupation, race, education, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status. Participants underwent neuroimaging using diffusion tensor imaging protocols for FWF extraction. Region of interest (ROI) analysis and correlational tractography explored topographical distributions of FWF associations. Apolipoprotein-e4 allele (APOEε4) status was available for most responders (N = 91). Hippocampal FWF was significantly associated with WTC site exposure duration (r = 0.30, p = 0.003), as was cerebral white matter FWF (r = 0.20, p = 0.044). ROI analysis and correlational tractography identified regions within the limbic, frontal, and temporal lobes. Hippocampal FWF and its association with WTC exposure duration were highest when the APOEε4 allele was present (r = 0.48, p = 0.039). Our findings demonstrate that prolonged WTC site exposure is associated with increased hippocampal and cerebral white matter neuroinflammation in WTC responders, possibly exacerbated by possession of the APOEε4 allele.
KW - Cognitive impairment
KW - Diffusion tensor imaging
KW - Early-onset dementia
KW - Exposure
KW - Free water fraction
KW - Neuroinflammation
KW - World Trade Center
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139926145&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12035-022-03059-z
DO - 10.1007/s12035-022-03059-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 36242735
AN - SCOPUS:85139926145
SN - 0893-7648
VL - 60
SP - 160
EP - 170
JO - Molecular Neurobiology
JF - Molecular Neurobiology
IS - 1
ER -