Klein Gail P, Hodge Erin M, Diamond Miriam L, Yip Amelia, Dann Tom, Stern Gary, Denison Michael S, Harper Patricia A
Department of Pharmacology, Centre for Urban Health Initiatives, University of Toronto, and Program in Developmental Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Environ Health Perspect. 2006 May;114(5):697-703. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8496.
Several adverse health effects, such as respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, have been linked to exposure to particulate matter in ambient air; however, the biologic activity of gas-phase ambient organic air contaminants has not been examined as thoroughly. Using aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)-based and estrogen receptor (ER)-based cell bioassay systems, we assessed the dioxin-like and estrogenic activities of gas-phase organic ambient air contaminants compared with those of particulate-phase contaminants using samples collected between seasons over 2 years from an urban and a rural location in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. The concentration of the sum (Sigma) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which was highest in the gas phase, was 10-100 times more abundant than that of Sigmapolychlorinated biphenyls, Sigmanitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and Sigmaorganochlorine pesticides, and 10(3) to 10(4) times more abundant than Sigmapolychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans. Gas-phase samples induced significant AHR- and ER-dependent gene expression. The activity of the gas-phase samples was greater than that of the particulate-phase samples in the estrogen assay and, in one case, in the AHR assay. We found no strong associations between either summer or winter seasons or urban or rural locations in the relative efficacy of the extracts in either the ER or AHR assay despite differences in chemical composition, concentrations, and abundance. Our results suggest that mechanistic studies of the health effects of ambient air must consider gas and particulate phases because chemicals present in both phases can affect AHR and ER signaling pathways.
几种不良健康影响，如呼吸道和心血管疾病，已被认为与暴露于环境空气中的颗粒物有关；然而，气相环境有机空气污染物的生物活性尚未得到充分研究。我们使用基于芳烃受体（AHR）和雌激素受体（ER）的细胞生物测定系统，通过对加拿大大多伦多地区一个城市和一个农村地点在两年内不同季节采集的样本进行分析，评估了气相有机环境空气污染物与颗粒相污染物相比的二恶英样和雌激素活性。气相中多环芳烃总和（Σ）的浓度最高，比多氯联苯的Σ、硝基多环芳烃的Σ和有机氯农药的Σ高10至100倍，比多氯二苯并对二恶英/二苯并呋喃的Σ高10³至10⁴倍。气相样本诱导了显著的AHR和ER依赖性基因表达。在雌激素测定中，气相样本的活性大于颗粒相样本，在一种情况下，在AHR测定中也是如此。尽管提取物在化学成分、浓度和丰度上存在差异，但我们发现在夏季或冬季以及城市或农村地点之间，提取物在ER或AHR测定中的相对效力没有很强的关联。我们的结果表明，对环境空气健康影响的机制研究必须考虑气相和颗粒相，因为这两个相中存在的化学物质都可以影响AHR和ER信号通路。
