Guanghzou Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Risk Assessment, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Faculty of Health, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, 4059, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2016 Jul 15;559:166-173. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.03.187. Epub 2016 Apr 6.
Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of common chemicals that ubiquitously exist in wildlife and humans. Experimental data suggest that they may alter T-lymphocyte functioning in situ by preferentially enhancing the development of T-helper 2 (TH2)- and inhibiting TH1-lymphocyte development and might increase allergic inflammation, but few human studies have been conducted. To evaluate the association between serum PFAAs concentrations and T-lymphocyte-related immunological markers of asthma in children, and further to assess whether gender modified this association, 231 asthmatic children and 225 non-asthmatic control children from Northern Taiwan were recruited into the Genetic and Biomarker study for Childhood Asthma. Serum concentrations of ten PFAAs and levels of TH1 [interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-2] and TH2 (IL-4 and IL-5) cytokines were measured. The results showed that asthmatics had significantly higher serum PFAAs concentrations compared with the healthy controls. When stratified by gender, a greater number of significant associations between PFAAs and asthma outcomes were found in males than in females. Among males, adjusted odds ratios for asthma among those with the highest versus lowest quartile of PFAAs exposure ranged from 2.59 (95% CI: 1.14, 5.87) for the perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) to 4.38 (95% CI: 2.02, 9.50) for perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS); and serum PFAAs were associated positively with TH2 cytokines and inversely with TH1 cytokines among male asthmatics. Among females, no significant associations between PFAAs and TH2 cytokines could be detected. In conclusion, increased serum PFAAs levels may promote TH cell dysregulation and alter the availability of key TH1 and TH2 cytokines, ultimately contributing to the development of asthma that may differentially impact males to a greater degree than females. These results have potential relevance in asthma prevention.
全氟烷基酸（PFAAs）是一组普遍存在于野生动物和人类体内的常见化学物质。实验数据表明，它们可能通过优先增强 T 辅助 2（TH2）的发育并抑制 TH1 淋巴细胞的发育来改变 T 淋巴细胞的体内功能，并可能增加过敏炎症，但很少有人类研究。为了评估血清 PFAAs 浓度与儿童哮喘 T 淋巴细胞相关免疫标志物之间的关系，并进一步评估性别是否改变了这种关联，从台湾北部招募了 231 名哮喘儿童和 225 名非哮喘对照儿童参加儿童哮喘的遗传和生物标志物研究。测量了血清中十种 PFAAs 的浓度和 TH1[干扰素（IFN）-γ、白细胞介素（IL）-2]和 TH2（IL-4 和 IL-5）细胞因子的水平。结果表明，哮喘患者的血清 PFAAs 浓度明显高于健康对照组。按性别分层后，发现 PFAAs 与哮喘结果之间存在更多的显著关联，在男性中比在女性中更多。在男性中，暴露于 PFAAs 最高与最低四分位组的哮喘的调整比值比（OR）范围从全氟丁烷磺酸（PFBS）的 2.59（95%CI：1.14，5.87）到全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）的 4.38（95%CI：2.02，9.50）；并且男性哮喘患者的血清 PFAAs 与 TH2 细胞因子呈正相关，与 TH1 细胞因子呈负相关。在女性中，未发现 PFAAs 与 TH2 细胞因子之间存在显著关联。总之，血清 PFAAs 水平的升高可能会促进 TH 细胞失调，并改变关键的 TH1 和 TH2 细胞因子的可用性，最终导致哮喘的发展，这可能对男性的影响比对女性的影响更大。这些结果在哮喘预防方面具有潜在意义。
