US EPA

3255038 

Journal Article 

Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Plasma Cytokines, and Heart Rate Variability 

Yang, B; Deng, Q; Zhang, W; Feng, Y; Dai, X; Feng, Wei; He, X; Huang, S; Zhang, X; Li, X; Lin, D; He, M; Guo, H; Sun, H; Yuan, J; Lu, J; Hu, FB; Zhang, X; Wu, T 

2016 

1 

Scientific Reports
EISSN: 2045-2322 

6 

19272 

English 

26758679 

10.1038/srep19272 

WOS:000369066900001 

Epidemiological studies have suggested associations between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heart rate variability (HRV). However, the roles of plasma cytokines in these associations are limited. In discovery stage of this study, we used Human Cytokine Antibody Arrays to examine differences in the concentrations of 280 plasma cytokines between 8 coke-oven workers and 16 community residents. We identified 19 cytokines with significant different expression (fold change >= 2 or <=-2, and q-value <5%) between exposed workers and controls. 4 cytokines were selected to validate in 489 coke-oven workers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in validation stage. We found OH-PAHs were inversely associated with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (p < 0.05), and interquartile range (IQR) increases in OH-PAHs were associated with >16% BDNF decreases. Additionally, OH-PAHs were positively associated with activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule (ALCAM) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (p < 0.05), and IQR increases in OH-PAHs were associated with >20% increases in CRP. We also found significant associations between these cytokines and HRV (p < 0.05), and IQR increases in BDNF and CRP were associated with >8% decreases in HRV. Our results indicated PAH exposure was associated with plasma cytokines, and higher cytokines were associated with decreased HRV, but additional human and potential mechanistic studies are needed.