Both psychosocial and physical environmental stressors have been linked to chronic mental health and chronic medical conditions. The psycho-immune-neuroendocrine (PINE) network details metabolomic pathways which are responsive to varied stressors and link chronic medical conditions with mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder via a network of pathophysiological pathways. The primary objective of this review is to explore evidence of relationships between airborne particulate matter (PM, as a concrete example of a physical environmental stressor), the PINE network and chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health sequelae, with a view to supporting the assertion that physical environmental stressors (not only psychosocial stressors) disrupt the PINE network, leading to NCDs. Biological links have been established between PM exposure, key sub-networks of the PINE model and mental health sequelae, suggesting that in theory, long-term mental health impacts of PM exposure may exist, driven by the disruption of these biological networks. This disruption could trans-generationally influence health; however, long-term studies and information on chronic outcomes following acute exposure event are still lacking, limiting what is currently known beyond the acute exposure and all-cause mortality. More empirical evidence is needed, especially to link long-term mental health sequelae to PM exposure, arising from PINE pathophysiology. Relationships between physical and psychosocial stressors, and especially the concept of such stressors acting together to impact on PINE network function, leading to linked NCDs, evokes the concept of syndemics, and these are discussed in the context of the PINE network.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.