Exploring the mechanism of neurological damage by environmental factors and targeted preventive interventions

Nervous system is the most important system of human body. More and more neurotoxic chemicals are found to inflict effects on nervous system, causing cognitive impairment. In this overview, the neurotoxic effects of environmental factors and their relationship with neurodegenerative diseases are briefly introduced. Further, aiming at the damage to the nervous system caused by metals such as aluminum, manganese, and iron, this special column attempted to evaluate the damage degree by combining objective imaging and cognitive scales and to explore the mechanism of toxicity (including neurotransmitter secretion disorders and tau protein hyperphosphorylation) by in vitro experiments. These papers also introduced intervention studies using hydrogen-rich water to target the damage of ionizing radiation to the nervous system and discussed the intervention mechanism as modulating the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/Caspase-9 pathway, and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway.