Proteomics Approaches for the Early Detection of Pollution-Related Human Diseases: A Review

DOI

No DOI

Published In

Volume 6, Issue 6 (2026)

Published Online

November-December 2026

Pages

32-34

Article Type

Review Article

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Environmental pollution is one of the major global health concerns associated with the increasing incidence of respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, renal, metabolic, and cancer-related diseases. Oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and altered cellular signaling can result from exposure to air pollutants, heavy metals, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and contaminated water. Traditional diagnostic methods may be able to identify these conditions only after significant biological damage or the appearance of clinical symptoms. Proteomics, the study of the entire complement of proteins, their abundances, structures, and post-translational modifications, offers promising opportunities to identify early molecular changes associated with pollution exposure and disease development. Advanced proteomic tools like liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Advanced proteomic tools such as liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (LC), targeted proteomics, protein microarrays, and high-throughput affinity-based platforms allow for the discovery and quantification of potential protein biomarkers in blood, urine, saliva and respiratory specimens. These technologies can help characterize biological responses such as oxidative stress, inflammation, tissue injury and organ dysfunction. Moreover, the combination of proteomics with exposomics, genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and machine-learning approaches might improve the identification of vulnerable populations and enhance early disease-risk assessment. Despite these advances, challenges remain regarding biomarker specificity, biological variability, analytical standardization, validation, cost, and clinical utility. This review covers the major proteomic tools.This review examines the major proteomic tools, their applications in detecting pollution-associated human diseases, and the challenges involved in translating candidate biomarkers into clinical practice. The integration of proteomics with environmental exposure assessment may ultimately support earlier disease detection, preventive interventions, and improved environmental health management.