Persistent Organic Pollutants and Inflammatory Markers in a Cross-Sectional Study of Elderly Swedish People: The PIVUS Cohort

Abstract

Background: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are compounds that are generated through various industrial activities and released in the surrounding environment. Different animal studies have shown effects of different POPs on various inflammatory markers.Objective: Because very few studies have been conducted in humans, we assessed the associations between different POPs and inflammatory markers in a large population-based sample of elderly men and women (all 70 years of age) from Sweden.Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated the concentrations of several polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, and brominated diphenyl ether congeners and their association with a number of inflammatory markers [vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), total leucocyte count, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), and interleukin 6 (IL-6)] in 992 individuals. These individuals were recruited from the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) cohort. We used a total toxic equivalency (TEQ) value that measures toxicological effects with the relative potencies of various POPs.Results: Following adjustment for potential confounders, the TEQ value (driven mainly by PCB-126) was significantly associated with levels of ICAM-1 (p < 10–5). A similar trend was also observed between sum of PCBs and VCAM-1 (p < 0.001). No significant associations were observed between levels of POPs and other inflammatory markers.Conclusions: TEQ values were associated with levels of ICAM-1, to a lesser degree also with VCAM-1, but not with CRP and several other inflammatory markers. These findings suggest an activation of vascular adhesion molecules by POPs, and particularly by PCB-126.Citation: Kumar J, Lind PM, Salihovic S, van Bavel B, Ingelsson E, Lind L. 2014. Persistent organic pollutants and inflammatory markers in a cross-sectional study of elderly Swedish people: The PIVUS cohort. Environ Health Perspect 122:977–983; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307613

Persistent organic pollutants and biomarkers of diabetes risk in a cohort of Great Lakes sport caught fish consumers

“…In the current study, we did not find any associations of CRP with POPs, and other investigators have inconsistently detected effects of POPs on CRP. Elevated CRP was associated with occupational PCB exposure in women (Persky et al 2011), but not men (Persky et al 2012); CRP was positively associated with organochlorine pesticides and inversely associated with non-dioxin like PCBs in NHANES participants (Ha et al 2007;Kim et al 2012); and dioxin-like chemicals, PCBs, and organochlorine pesticides did not affect CRP in two other studies (Kumar et al 2014b;Turunen et al 2013). Our findings of inverse associations of saltwater fish meals and total fish meals with CRP are consistent with observational and intervention studies (He et al 2009;Ouellet et al 2008;Ramel et al 2010;Smith et al 2009).…”

“…POPs have been associated with increased inflammation, assessed by a variety of biomarkers (Fujiyoshi et al 2006;Imbeault et al 2012;Kumar et al 2014b;Kuwatsuka et al 2014). In the current study, we did not find any associations of CRP with POPs, and other investigators have inconsistently detected effects of POPs on CRP.…”

Adverse effects of weight loss: Are persistent organic pollutants a potential culprit?

“…Several studies have observed that the acute or chronic exposure of POPs is associated with high expression levels of several inflammatory cytokines [100,101]. For example, a strong association was reported between POPs exposure and increases in IL-6 as well as two intercellular adhesion molecules playing an important role in inflammatory reactions: ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 [101]. Furthermore, higher plasma levels of POPs and higher plasma inflammatory cytokine concentrations were found in First Nations individuals compared to Caucasians from Canada [102].…”

Serum polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in relation to biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2004

“…Despite this evidence, very few studies to date have examined associations between PBDE exposure and oxidative stress or inflammation in humans. Those that have investigated PBDEs in combination with other persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls and p,p-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) (Kumar et al, 2014), have combined PBDEs and not examined the impact of individual congeners (with the exception of BDE-47) (Turyk et al, 2015), or have addressed this question in study populations without broad generalizability (Rantakokko et al, 2015). …”