Associations between Levels of Serum Perfluorinated Chemicals and Adiponectin in a Young Hypertension Cohort in Taiwan

Abstract

In animals, perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), specifically perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfate (PFOS), function as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha agonists. However, the relevance of animal (primarily rodent) data to humans is unresolved. While plasma adiponectin level is very responsive to PPAR gamma agonist drugs, it has not been determined whether adiponectin level is related to serum PFCs concentrations. In the present study, 287 subjects (12-30 years of age) were recruited to determine the relationship between serum level of PFCs and serum level of adiponectin. The results showed males had higher serum PFOS concentrations than females and that those with metabolic syndrome had lower serum PFOA than controls. Besides, it showed regional elevations of the perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUA) (median concentration: 7.11 ng/mL) in the study subjects. No relationship of PFOA, PFOS, PFUA, and the sum of all four PFCs was found to glucose homeostasis, adiponectin level, lipid profile, and inflammatory markers. The median and the range of perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) concentration (in ng/mL; for four categories corresponding to the<50, 50-74, 75-89, and ≥90th percentiles) were 0.38 (0.38-1.68), 3.22 (1.73-4.65), 5.85 (4.75-8.29), 10.56 (8.40-25.40), respectively. After controlling for confounding factors, multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the mean natural log-transformed level of adiponectin increased significantly across categories of PFNA (in ng/mL; 8.78, 8.73, 9.06, 9.36; P for trend = 0.010 in the full model). In conclusion, higher serum PFNA concentration is associated with elevated serum adiponectin concentration.

Association between perfluoroalkyl substances and reproductive hormones in adolescents and young adults

“…The measurements of PFAS have been validated (Lin et al, 2013b) and have been demonstrated to have different health effects in this cohort (Lin et al, 2011(Lin et al, , 2013aSu et al, 2014). This study also had several limitations.…”

Associations of Perfluoroalkyl substances with blood lipids and Apolipoproteins in lipoprotein subspecies: the POUNDS-lost study

“…Most animal studies showed that administration of PFAS led to lower levels of circulating lipids (i.e., total cholesterol and triglycerides), but known betweenspecies differences in PFAS toxicokinetics limit the generalizability of animal study findings to humans [1]. Evidence from human studies regarding PFAS exposure and lipids is mixed [11,27,28]. Positive associations between PFASs and total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, or triglycerides were observed in some cross-sectional and prospective studies [4,8,9,[29][30][31], whereas other studies reported null associations or even inverse associations [11,28,32].…”

Serum perfluorinated chemicals, glucose homeostasis and the risk of diabetes in working-aged Taiwanese adults

“…Generally, PFASs can structurally bind to various isoforms of peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor (PPAR α and PPAR γ ) and the binding affinity of these isoforms is differential with PPAR α being most responsive to PFASs (Vanden Heuvel et al, 2006). The activation of PPAR α and PPAR γ has been linked to the regulation of fatty acid metabolism, inflammation, and glucose homeostasis (Lin et al, 2011;Staels and Fruchart, 2005). Our findings, if true, suggested that the favorable effect of PFOA, PFNA, and PFUA on glucose homeostasis may be due to PPAR α and PPAR γ activation.…”