MTM Research Centre, Örebro university, Fakultetsgatan 1, 702 81 Örebro, Sweden.
European Union Reference Laboratory for Pesticide Residues in Fruit & Vegetables, University of Almeria, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), Ctra. Sacramento s/n La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 25;953:176004. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176004. Epub 2024 Sep 10.
This pilot study investigated the association between occupational exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and metabolic profiles among two groups of aviation firefighters (n = 37), with an average of 6 and 31 years of working experience (here referred as junior and senior firefighters) at airports across Australia, with samples collected in 2013. PFAS levels in serum were determined in a previous study to be >17 times higher in the senior firefighter group, reflecting the difference in their occupational exposure to fluorosurfactants among the groups. The aim was to examine metabolic patterns across a broad range of PFAS exposure by comparing metabolic differences and their associations with PFAS levels. In this cross-sectional study, the length of firefighting experience and PFAS levels in serum were both further associated with changes in several classes of metabolites, including free fatty acids, bile acids, amino acids, lipids and metabolites related to gut microbial metabolism. The metabolites associated with the length of firefighting experience showed similarities with the metabolites associated with PFAS levels. A non-monotonic response to PFAS concentrations, particularly in saturated fatty acids, was also observed. In the junior firefighter group, the PFAS concentrations were positively associated with saturated fatty acids, i.e., the saturated fatty acid levels increased with increased PFAS levels. In the senior firefighter group, the trend was opposite, with saturated fatty acids decreasing with increasing levels of PFAS. Accounting for potential confounding factors such as BMI and age could not explain the results. While the study population was small, our results plausibly indicate that PFAS exposure can lead to a metabolic compensation strategy that is disrupted at high, long-term exposures. Our study also suggests that serum metabolites serve as better effect-based markers of the impact of exposure than the traditional clinical measurements alone, such as total triglycerides or total cholesterol.
本初步研究调查了两组航空消防员（n=37）职业性接触全氟和多氟烷基物质（PFAS）与代谢特征之间的关系，这两组消防员在澳大利亚各地机场工作，平均工作年限分别为 6 年和 31 年（分别称为初级和高级消防员），样本采集于 2013 年。在之前的研究中，发现高级消防员组血清中 PFAS 水平高出 17 倍以上，反映了两组之间职业性接触氟表面活性剂的差异。本研究旨在通过比较代谢差异及其与 PFAS 水平的关联，研究广泛的 PFAS 暴露范围内的代谢模式。在这项横断面研究中，消防工作年限和血清中 PFAS 水平都与几类代谢物的变化进一步相关，包括游离脂肪酸、胆汁酸、氨基酸、脂质和与肠道微生物代谢相关的代谢物。与消防工作年限相关的代谢物与与 PFAS 水平相关的代谢物具有相似性。还观察到 PFAS 浓度的非单调反应，特别是在饱和脂肪酸中。在初级消防员组中，PFAS 浓度与饱和脂肪酸呈正相关，即随着 PFAS 水平的升高，饱和脂肪酸水平升高。在高级消防员组中，趋势相反，随着 PFAS 水平的升高，饱和脂肪酸水平降低。考虑到 BMI 和年龄等潜在混杂因素并不能解释结果。虽然研究人群规模较小，但我们的结果合理地表明，PFAS 暴露会导致代谢补偿策略被破坏，这种策略在高暴露和长期暴露下会被打乱。我们的研究还表明，血清代谢物作为暴露影响的基于效应的标志物，比传统的临床测量（如总甘油三酯或总胆固醇）更好。
