The association between exposure to flame retardants and cognitive function in the elderly: Unveiling potential...

Human beings have been widely exposed to various types of flame retardants, but little is known about their effects on cognitive function in the elderly.

To investigate the individual and combined effects of four common flame retardants on cognitive function and the gender differences in the relationship between the four flame retardants and cognitive function.

Results revealed that BDCPP and BCEP are both negatively correlated to cognitive function scores (β = -0.06; 95% CI: -0.23, 0.36; β = -0.01; 95% CI: -0.26, 0.28). Notably, two flame retardants, BDCPP and BCEP showed higher relative contribution weights in the WQS model, suggesting they may play a more important role in the mixture effect, pending further validation. Furthermore, Serum Klotho levels were statistically associated with exposure to flame retardants and cognitive outcomes, supporting the exploratory hypothesis that Klotho acts as a potential mediating factor. In the bioinformatics analysis, we identified 622 target genes associated with cognitive decline observed in relation to flame retardant exposure. In addition, enrichment analysis showed that flame retardant-related cognitive decline was associated with pathways such as Apoptosis, Gene expression, Cell proliferation, Metabolic pathways, Pathways of neurodegeneration, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling and Alzheimer disease. Cytoscape was used to identify key genes, including MDM2, CASP3, ACTB, TP53, SQSTM1, and PCNA.

Our results showed a negative correlation between the four flame retardants and cognitive function. Potential biological pathways of the association between mixed flame retardants exposure and cognitive function may involve Apoptosis, Metabolic pathways, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling, and Alzheimer disease. The causality and mechanisms underlying this association require further validation through longitudinal studies or interventional research.