Serum vaccine antibody concentrations in adults exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: A birth cohort in the Faroe Islands

Abstract

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are highly persistent in the environment and may cause depressed immune function. Previous studies have linked PFAS exposure to lower vaccine responses in children, but research in adults is limited. Therefore, the present study evaluated the associations between exposure to PFASs and serum antibody concentrations in adults vaccinated at age 28 years in the Faroe Islands. PFAS concentrations were determined from cord-blood collected at birth and serum samples collected at ages 7, 14, 22, and 28 years. Serum antibody concentrations against hepatitis type A and B, diphtheria, and tetanus were analyzed from blood samples collected about 6 mo after the first vaccine inoculation at age 28 years. Linear regression models were used to estimate changes in antibody concentration for each doubling of PFAS concentration. Potential effect modification by sex was assessed by including an interaction term between PFAS and sex. Although the 95% confidence intervals contain the null value, inverse trends were observed between serum perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) at ages 14 and 28 years and hepatitis type A antibody (anti-HAV) concentrations, as revealed by an estimated decrease of 0.71 (95% CI: À1.52, 0.09) and 0.24 (95% CI: À0.59, 0.10) signal-to-cutoff ratio for each doubling of exposure, respectively. Inverse trends were also observed between serum PFOA at ages 22 and 28 years and hepatitis type B antibody (anti-HBs) concentration, with an estimated decrease of 21% (95% CI: À42.20%, 7.34%) and of 17% (95% CI: À35.47%, 7.35%) in anti-HBs for each doubling of exposure, respectively. Sexspecific associations with anti-HAV were observed for cord-blood PFASs and serum PFAS concentrations at ages 7 and 14 years. No inverse associations of PFAS exposure were found with diphtheria and tetanus antibody concentrations. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and further investigate the effects of PFASs on adult immune function.

Antibody response to COVID-19 vaccines among workers with a wide range of exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances

“…The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently issued a draft systematic review of antibodies other than to COVID-19 for consideration by its Scientific Advisory Board and preliminarily concluded that there was an inverse association for PFOA and PFOS in children ( US EPA, 2022 ). Some of the data on antibody concentrations after vaccination in relation to PFAS in adults have provided support for an inverse association ( Kielsen et al, 2016 , Looker et al, 2014 , Pilkerton et al, 2018 , Shih et al, 2021 ; Stein, Ge, et al, 2016; Stein, McGovern, et al, 2016); however, limited data exist on any given vaccine type. Large differences in Coronavirus antibody concentrations affect risk of Coronavirus disease ( Barrow et al, 1990 , Bradburne et al, 1967 , Callow, 1985 ).…”

Immunomodulation and exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: an overview of the current evidence from animal and human studies

“…The relationship between PFAS exposures and biomarkers of immunomodulation such as vaccine responses in humans has been investigated in 13 studies. These include six birth cohort studies conducted in Norway (Granum et al 2013), the Faroe islands (Grandjean et al 2012(Grandjean et al , 2017aShih et al 2021), Germany (Abraham et al 2020), and China (Zeng et al 2019); one longitudinal analysis of adult residents in the US state of West Virginia with higher PFOA levels in drinking water (Looker et al 2014); three crosssectional studies based on data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (Stein et al 2016a, b), a study using adult volunteers from a hospital in Denmark (Kielsen et al 2016), one study using cross-sectional data from the cohort Isomer of C8 Health Project in China (Zeng et al 2020) and a prospective study based on a subset of data from a randomized controlled trial conducted in West Africa (Timmermann et al 2020).…”

“…Seven studies (Abraham et al 2020;Grandjean et al 2012Grandjean et al , 2017aGranum et al 2013;Kielsen et al 2016;Shih et al 2021) examined tetanus antibody concentrations. Diphtheria antibody concentrations were examined in five studies (Abraham et al 2020;Grandjean et al 2012Grandjean et al , 2017aKielsen et al 2016;Shih et al 2021).…”

“…Seven studies (Abraham et al 2020;Grandjean et al 2012Grandjean et al , 2017aGranum et al 2013;Kielsen et al 2016;Shih et al 2021) examined tetanus antibody concentrations. Diphtheria antibody concentrations were examined in five studies (Abraham et al 2020;Grandjean et al 2012Grandjean et al , 2017aKielsen et al 2016;Shih et al 2021). Three studies examined measles antibody concentrations (Granum et al 2013;Stein et al 2016b;Timmermann et al 2020) and one study (Stein et al 2016a) investigated antibody concentrations of mumps.…”

“…Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 antibody concentrations were investigated by Looker et al (2014). Antibody concentrations of FluMist were investigated by Stein et al (2016a) and hepatitis B surface (HBsAB) antibody concentrations were investigated by Zeng et al (2020) and Shih et al (2021). Serum antibodies were investigated by Zeng et al (2019).…”