Hrubec Terry C, Seguin Ryan P, Xu Libin, Cortopassi Gino A, Datta Sandipan, Hanlon Alexandra L, Lozano Alicia J, McDonald Valerie A, Healy Claire A, Anderson Tyler C, Musse Najaha A, Williams Richard T
Department of Biomedical Science, E. Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia, Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA.
Department of Biomedical Science and Pathobiology, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
Toxicol Rep. 2021 Mar 9;8:646-656. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.03.006. eCollection 2021.
Humans are frequently exposed to Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QACs). QACs are ubiquitously used in medical settings, restaurants, and homes as cleaners and disinfectants. Despite their prevalence, nothing is known about the health effects associated with chronic low-level exposure. Chronic QAC toxicity, only recently identified in mice, resulted in developmental, reproductive, and immune dysfunction. Cell based studies indicate increased inflammation, decreased mitochondrial function, and disruption of cholesterol synthesis. If these findings translate to human toxicity, multiple physiological processes could be affected. This study tested whether QAC concentrations could be detected in the blood of 43 human volunteers, and whether QAC concentrations influenced markers of inflammation, mitochondrial function, and cholesterol synthesis. QAC concentrations were detected in 80 % of study participants. Blood QACs were associated with increase in inflammatory cytokines, decreased mitochondrial function, and disruption of cholesterol homeostasis in a dose dependent manner. This is the first study to measure QACs in human blood, and also the first to demonstrate statistically significant relationships between blood QAC and meaningful health related biomarkers. Additionally, the results are timely in light of the increased QAC disinfectant exposure occurring due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
This study found that 80 % of study participants contained QACs in their blood; and that markers of inflammation, mitochondrial function, and sterol homeostasis varied with blood QAC concentration.
人类经常接触季铵化合物（QACs）。QACs作为清洁剂和消毒剂广泛应用于医疗场所、餐厅和家庭。尽管它们很常见，但对于与慢性低水平接触相关的健康影响却一无所知。慢性QAC毒性直到最近才在小鼠中被发现，会导致发育、生殖和免疫功能障碍。基于细胞的研究表明炎症增加、线粒体功能下降以及胆固醇合成受到干扰。如果这些发现转化为人类毒性，多个生理过程可能会受到影响。本研究测试了43名人类志愿者的血液中是否能检测到QAC浓度，以及QAC浓度是否会影响炎症、线粒体功能和胆固醇合成的标志物。80%的研究参与者检测到了QAC浓度。血液中的QACs与炎症细胞因子增加、线粒体功能下降以及胆固醇稳态破坏呈剂量依赖性相关。这是第一项测量人类血液中QACs的研究，也是第一项证明血液中QAC与有意义的健康相关生物标志物之间存在统计学显著关系的研究。此外，鉴于由于SARS-CoV-2大流行导致QAC消毒剂接触增加，这些结果很及时。
本研究发现80%的研究参与者血液中含有QACs；并且炎症、线粒体功能和固醇稳态的标志物随血液QAC浓度而变化。
