Tsai Meng-Shan, Lin Ching-Chun, Chen Mei-Huei, Hsieh Wu-Shiun, Chen Pau-Chung
Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan.
Environ Pollut. 2017 Mar;222:543-548. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2016.11.027. Epub 2016 Dec 23.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are pollutants that tend to accumulate in the environment and organisms. The animal and human studies to date have focused on thyroid function, but the results are inconsistent.
A sample of 118 mother-infant pairs was obtained from the Taiwan Birth Panel Study (TBPS). Cord blood PFASs levels were evaluated using the Waters ACQUITY UPLC system coupled with a Waters Quattro Premier XE triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, and cord blood thyroid hormones were assessed using a Roche Analytics E170 modular analyser (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). PFASs concentrations were analysed in the final models to examine the associations between cord blood PFASs levels and thyroid hormone concentrations.
The cord blood perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) concentration was negatively associated with the cord blood thyroxine (T4) concentration [per ln unit: adjusted β (95% confidence interval, CI) = -0.458(-0.916, -0.001)]. Moreover, the level of cord blood thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was positively associated with the cord blood PFOS concentration [per ln unit: adjusted β (95% confidence interval, CI) = 0.346(0.101, 0.592)]. The sex stratified effects of PFOS on T4 were suggestive of differential effects in high-exposure groups compared with low-exposure group in boys.
We found that cord blood thyroid hormone levels are affected by PFASs, with a negative association between T4 and PFOS and a positive association between TSH and PFOS. The causal associations of thyroid hormones and PFASs require further exploration.
全氟烷基物质（PFASs）是易于在环境和生物体中积累的污染物。迄今为止，针对动物和人类的研究主要集中在甲状腺功能方面，但结果并不一致。
从台湾出生队列研究（TBPS）中选取了118对母婴样本。使用沃特世ACQUITY UPLC系统与沃特世Quattro Premier XE三重四极杆质谱仪联用测定脐血中PFASs水平，使用罗氏诊断分析E170模块化分析仪（德国曼海姆罗氏诊断公司）评估脐血甲状腺激素水平。在最终模型中分析PFASs浓度，以检验脐血PFASs水平与甲状腺激素浓度之间的关联。
脐血全氟辛烷磺酸（PFOS）浓度与脐血甲状腺素（T4）浓度呈负相关[每自然对数单位：校正β（95%置信区间，CI） = -0.458（-0.916，-0.001）]。此外，脐血促甲状腺激素（TSH）水平与脐血PFOS浓度呈正相关[每自然对数单位：校正β（95%置信区间，CI） = 0.346（0.101，0.592）]。PFOS对T4的性别分层效应表明，与低暴露组相比，高暴露组男孩存在差异效应。
我们发现脐血甲状腺激素水平受PFASs影响，T4与PFOS呈负相关，TSH与PFOS呈正相关。甲状腺激素与PFASs之间的因果关系需要进一步探索。
