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Perfluorooctanoic acid alters T lymphocyte phenotypes and cytokine expression in mice
Author(s) -
Son HeeYoung,
Lee Soyoung,
Tak EunNam,
Cho HaeSung,
Shin HongIn,
Kim SangHyun,
Yang JaeHo
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/tox.20459
Subject(s) - spleen , perfluorooctanoic acid , white pulp , proinflammatory cytokine , lymphocyte , cd8 , immune system , lymphatic system , endocrinology , chemistry , cytokine , biology , tumor necrosis factor alpha , medicine , immunology , inflammation , biochemistry
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been used in commercial applications and detected in environmental matrices. This study focuses on whether PFOA affects the function of immune organs (spleen and thymus). Male ICR mice were exposed to 0, 2, 10, 50, and 250 ppm of PFOA in drinking water for 21 days. PFOA differently altered T lymphocyte populations. In the spleen, all doses of PFOA decreased CD8 + lymphocytes; CD4 + lymphocytes were increased by 50 and 250 ppm of PFOA. Exposure to 250 ppm of PFOA increased CD8 + lymphocytes in the thymus. In the histopathological evaluation, the spleen of 250 ppm PFOA‐treated groups revealed the increase of lymphoid hyperplasia of white pulp without significant alteration of red pulp. The thymus of 250 ppm PFOA‐treated group showed decreased thickness of the cortex and medulla, but lymphoid cells were more densely arranged. PFOA elevated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin‐1β, and interleukin‐6) in the spleen, and proto‐oncogene, c‐myc, in the spleen and thymus. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that PFOA has an immunomodulatory effect by altering T lymphocyte phenotypes and gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009.