Vogt R F
Division of Environmental Health Laboratory Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Environ Health Perspect. 1991 Nov;95:85-91. doi: 10.1289/ehp.919585.
The immune system is likely to be involved in some of the health effects caused by certain indoor air exposures, and immune biomarkers can help determine which exposures and health effects have important immune components. However, the lack of standardized laboratory tests for most human immune markers and the many confounding variables that can influence them makes interpretation of results for exposure and disease end points uncertain. This paper presents an overview of the immune system and the considerations involved in using tests for immune markers in clinical epidemiology studies, particularly those concerned with indoor air exposures. Careful study design, well-characterized laboratory methods, and rigorous documentation of exposure status are required to determine the predictive value of such tests. Clinical tests currently available for some immune markers could help identify and characterize both irritative and hypersensitivity reactions to indoor air pollutants. Newer tests developed in research settings might provide more incisive indicators of immune status that could help identify exposure, susceptibility, or preclinical disease states, but their methodologies must be refined and tested in multicenter studies before they can be used reliably in public health applications.
免疫系统可能参与了某些室内空气暴露所导致的一些健康影响，免疫生物标志物有助于确定哪些暴露和健康影响具有重要的免疫成分。然而，大多数人类免疫标志物缺乏标准化的实验室检测方法，且存在许多可能影响它们的混杂变量，这使得对暴露和疾病终点结果的解释存在不确定性。本文概述了免疫系统以及在临床流行病学研究中使用免疫标志物检测时需要考虑的因素，特别是那些与室内空气暴露有关的研究。需要精心的研究设计、特征明确的实验室方法以及对暴露状况的严格记录，以确定此类检测的预测价值。目前针对某些免疫标志物的临床检测有助于识别和表征对室内空气污染物的刺激性和超敏反应。在研究环境中开发的更新检测方法可能会提供更精确的免疫状态指标，有助于识别暴露、易感性或临床前疾病状态，但在它们能够可靠地应用于公共卫生之前，其方法必须在多中心研究中进行完善和测试。
