Institute of Immunology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Toxicol In Vitro. 2011 Jun;25(4):960-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2011.03.005. Epub 2011 Mar 21.
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), such as perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), are xenobiotics that can be detected worldwide in the environment, wildlife, and humans. So far, the immunotoxicity of PFCs has only been investigated in rodents, but not in humans. In this study, we explore the impact of PFOS and PFOA on selected functions of human leukocytes in vitro. PFOS induced a significant decrease of natural killer-cell activity and reduced the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α following lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulation. Furthermore, the plasma PFOS concentrations (2.09-8.98 ng/ml) found in our study subjects correlated positively with the LPS-stimulated IL-6 release. PFOA augmented significantly calcitriol-induced monocytic differentiation of the HL-60 cell line. Additionally, there was a significant linear relationship between LPS-stimulated TNF-α and IL-6 release, and the plasma PFOA (1.20-6.92ng/ml) concentrations of the study subjects. In conclusion, the investigated PFCs affect human immune cells mainly with regard to natural killer-cell cytotoxicity and the pro-inflammatory cytokine release by stimulated macrophages.
全氟化合物（PFCs），如全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）和全氟辛酸（PFOA），是可以在环境、野生动物和人类中全球检测到的异源生物。迄今为止，PFCs 的免疫毒性仅在啮齿动物中进行了研究，而在人类中尚未进行研究。在这项研究中，我们探讨了 PFOS 和 PFOA 对体外人类白细胞某些功能的影响。PFOS 诱导自然杀伤细胞活性显著降低，并降低脂多糖（LPS）刺激后促炎细胞因子 TNF-α的释放。此外，我们研究对象中的血浆 PFOS 浓度（2.09-8.98ng/ml）与 LPS 刺激的 IL-6 释放呈正相关。PFOA 显著增强了 HL-60 细胞系中钙三醇诱导的单核细胞分化。此外，LPS 刺激的 TNF-α和 IL-6 释放与研究对象的血浆 PFOA（1.20-6.92ng/ml）浓度之间存在显著线性关系。总之，研究中所调查的 PFCs 主要通过刺激的巨噬细胞影响人类免疫细胞的自然杀伤细胞细胞毒性和促炎细胞因子的释放。
