Organic UV filters are ubiquitous as they are used in numerous personal care products. Consequently, people constantly come into direct or indirect contact with these chemicals. Albeit studies of the effects of UV filters on human health have been undertaken, their toxicological profiles are not complete. In this work, we investigated the immunomodulatory properties of eight UV filters representing different chemotypes, including benzophenone-1, benzophenone-3, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, octyldimethyl-para-aminobenzoic acid, octyl salate, butylmethoxydibenzoylmethane, 3-benzylidenecamphor, and 2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-(5-chlorobenzotriazol-2-yl)phenol. We demonstrated that none of these UV filters were cytotoxic to THP-1 cells at concentrations up to 50 μM. Importantly, our study highlighted the capacity of nontoxic concentrations of avobenzone and 3-benzylidene camphor to increase the secretion of interleukin 8 (IL-8) from both THP-1 cells and THP-1 derived macrophages. Further, they also exhibited a pronounced decrease of IL-6 and IL-10 release from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The observed immune cell alterations suggest that exposure to 3-BC and BMDM could be involved in immune deregulation. Our research thus provided additional insight into UV filter safety profile.
Keywords: Cytokine secretion; Immunomodulation; Macrophage; PBMC; THP-1; UV filters.
Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.