Impact of Pfas Exposure on Prevalence of Immune-Mediated Diseases in Adults in the Czech Republic

26 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2023

See all articles by Barbora Rudzanová

Barbora Rudzanová

Masaryk University

Jelle Vlaanderen

Utrecht University

Jiří Kalina

Masaryk University

Pavel Piler

Masaryk University - RECETOX Centre

Martin Zvonar

Masaryk University

Jana Klánová

Masaryk University - RECETOX Centre

Ludek Blaha

Masaryk University

Ondrej Adamovsky

Masaryk University

Abstract

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are emerging environmental contaminants with multiple hazardous properties including immunomodulation potency. Human exposure to PFASs has been associated with various immune-mediated diseases and outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association between PFAS exposure and immune-mediated diseases such as allergies, eczemas, and autoimmune diseases in a population of adults in the Czech Republic.Methods: This study included 309 adults from the Central European Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children: Young Adults (CELSPAC: YA). 12 PFASs were measured in participants' serum by UHPLC-MS/MS, 3 PFASs were removed from the subsequent analyses due to low detection frequency. The associations of 9 PFASs with 9 immune-mediated diseases were assessed by logistic regression. Furthermore, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) was used to estimate the effect of the PFAS mixture on immune-mediated diseases. All analyses were adjusted for sex, age, BMI, smoking, education, and family history of immune-mediated diseases. In cases of a statistically significant interaction of PFASs and sex, stratified analyses were performed for men and women.Results: Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were negatively associated with both atopic eczema (OR per IQR increase 0.58 (95% CI 0.37–0.90) for PFOA and 0.56 (0.32–0.95) for PFOS) and contact dermatitis (0.37 (0.16–0.85) for PFOA and 0.33 (0.11–0.94) for PFOS). Perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA) was negatively associated with pollen, dust, and mite allergy (0.62 (0.43–0.89)). BKMR modelling showed a negative tendency in the overall effect of PFAS mixture on immune-health outcomes. Based on the stratified analysis, sex was suggested to be an effect modifier in the association of PFOS and atopic eczema.Conclusion: Our results contribute to the body of literature that observes the immunosuppressive effect of PFAS exposure during eczemas and allergies, both for PFASs individually and as a mixture.

Note:
Funding declaration: Authors thank to Research Infrastructure RECETOX RI (No LM2018121) financed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, and Operational Programme Research, Development and Education - project CETOCOEN EXCELLENCE (No CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_043/0009632) and Cetocoen Plus (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000469) for supportive background. This work was supported from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 857560. This publication reflects only the author's view, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Conflicts of Interest: None

Ethical Approval: The CELSPAC: YA study was approved by the ELSPAC Ethics Committee (Ref. No: ELSPAC/EK/2/2019, dated March 13, 2019).

Keywords: Perfluoroalkyl substances, immune system, adult cohort, allergy, eczema, Bayesian kernel machine regression

Suggested Citation

Rudzanová, Barbora and Vlaanderen, Jelle and Kalina, Jiří and Piler, Pavel and Zvonar, Martin and Klánová, Jana and Blaha, Ludek and Adamovsky, Ondrej, Impact of Pfas Exposure on Prevalence of Immune-Mediated Diseases in Adults in the Czech Republic. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4360530 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4360530

Barbora Rudzanová

Masaryk University ( email )

Jelle Vlaanderen

Utrecht University ( email )

Jiří Kalina

Masaryk University ( email )

Pavel Piler

Masaryk University - RECETOX Centre ( email )

Brno
Czech Republic

Martin Zvonar

Masaryk University ( email )

Jana Klánová

Masaryk University - RECETOX Centre ( email )

Brno
Czech Republic

Ludek Blaha

Masaryk University ( email )

Ondrej Adamovsky (Contact Author)

Masaryk University ( email )

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