Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Occup Environ Med. 2011 Jun;68(6):419-24. doi: 10.1136/oem.2010.058016. Epub 2010 Nov 22.
Epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent effects on immunological parameters in subjects exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). In this study we investigated changes in humoral immunity and prevalence of atopic diseases among workers from a Dutch historical cohort occupationally exposed to chlorophenoxy herbicides and contaminants including TCDD.
45 workers who had been exposed to high levels of TCDD in the past and 108 non-exposed workers (39 from the same factory as the exposed subjects (internal control group) and 69 from a comparable factory but without TCDD exposure (external control group)) were included in the study. Blood immunoglobulin (Ig) and complement factor (C) concentrations and specific IgE antibodies to a panel of common allergens were measured using quantitative nephelometry or ELISA. TCDD plasma levels were measured and back-extrapolated to the time of last exposure (TCDDmax) using a one-compartment first order kinetic model.
A borderline significant negative association between both current and predicted TCDD levels and C4 was found in multivariate analyses (β = -0.020; 95% CI = -0.040-0.010 and β = -0.020; 95% CI = -0.030-0.00, respectively). History of eczema was significantly associated with current TCDD levels in both crude (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.03-2.2) and adjusted models (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.08-2.7).
Our results do not support an association between TCDD exposure and markers of humoral immunity except possibly C4. Interestingly, decreased levels of C4 have been linked to lymphoma risk, which provides some support to the putative link between TCDD and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
流行病学研究表明，接触 2,3,7,8-四氯二苯并对二恶英（TCDD）的受试者的免疫参数存在不一致的影响。在这项研究中，我们调查了荷兰历史队列中职业接触氯苯氧基除草剂和包括 TCDD 在内的污染物的工人中体液免疫的变化和特应性疾病的患病率。
研究纳入了 45 名过去曾接触过高水平 TCDD 的工人和 108 名未接触过 TCDD 的工人（39 名来自暴露组相同的工厂（内部对照组）和 69 名来自无 TCDD 暴露的可比工厂（外部对照组））。使用定量比浊法或 ELISA 测量血液免疫球蛋白（Ig）和补体因子（C）浓度以及对常见过敏原的特异性 IgE 抗体。使用单室一阶动力学模型测量 TCDD 血浆水平，并向后外推至最后一次接触时间（TCDDmax）。
在多变量分析中，当前和预测的 TCDD 水平与 C4 之间存在边缘显著的负相关（β=-0.020；95%CI=-0.040-0.010 和β=-0.020；95%CI=-0.030-0.00）。在 crude（OR=1.5；95%CI=1.03-2.2）和 adjusted（OR=1.7；95%CI=1.08-2.7）模型中，湿疹史与当前 TCDD 水平显著相关。
除了 C4 之外，我们的结果不支持 TCDD 暴露与体液免疫标志物之间的关联。有趣的是，C4 水平降低与淋巴瘤风险有关，这为 TCDD 与非霍奇金淋巴瘤之间的潜在联系提供了一些支持。
