Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and neonatal immunoglobulin profiles in the upstate KIDS study (2008-2010)

Laura E Jones; Akhgar Ghassabian; David A Lawrence; Rajeshwari Sundaram; Edwina Yeung; Kurunthachalam Kannan; Erin M Bell

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119656

Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and neonatal immunoglobulin profiles in the upstate KIDS study (2008-2010)

Environ Pollut. 2022 Sep 1:308:119656. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119656. Epub 2022 Jul 1.

Authors

Laura E Jones¹, Akhgar Ghassabian², David A Lawrence³, Rajeshwari Sundaram⁴, Edwina Yeung⁵, Kurunthachalam Kannan⁶, Erin M Bell⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York, Albany, USA. Electronic address: lejones@albany.edu.
² Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA; Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: Akhgar.Ghassabian@nyulangone.org.
³ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York, Albany, USA. Electronic address: david.lawrence@health.ny.gov.
⁴ Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, 20817, USA. Electronic address: sundaramr2@mail.nih.gov.
⁵ Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, 20817, USA. Electronic address: Edwina.Yeung@nih.gov.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA; Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA. Electronic address: Kurunthachalam.Kannan@nyulangone.org.
⁷ Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York, Albany, USA. Electronic address: ebell@albany.edu.

PMID: 35787426
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119656

Abstract

Infant exposure to per/polyfluoroalkyl compounds is associated with immune disruption. We examined associations between neonatal concentrations of perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype profiles in a prospective cohort of infants. We measured Ig isotypes, including IgA, IgE, IgM and the IgG subclasses IgG₁, IgG₂, IgG₃, and IgG_4, and PFOA and PFOS in newborn dried bloodspots from N = 3175 infants in the Upstate KIDS Study (2008-2010). We examined the association between newborn Ig isotype levels and individual PFOS and PFOA concentrations using mixed effects regression models with a random intercept to account for twins among study participants. We assessed the joint effect PFOA and PFOS with quantile-based g-computation on all singletons and one randomly selected twin (N = 2901), with Ig categorized as above or below median value. Models were adjusted for infant sex, and maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index, race, parity, age and infertility treatment. In adjusted models, PFOA was inversely associated with IgE (coefficient = -0.12 per unit increase in PFOA, 95% CI: -0.065, -0.17), whereas IgG₂, IgM, and IgA were positively associated with PFOA (coefficient for IgG₂ = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.27; coefficient for IgM = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.15; and coefficient for IgA = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.18). There was no relation between PFOS and Ig isotypes. Analysis of the joint effect of PFOA and PFOS showed an OR of 1.2 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.36) for IgA and OR of 1.12 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.24) for IgG₂ levels above the median for every quartile increase. PFOA levels were significantly associated with elevated IgA, IgM, IgG₂, and reduced levels of IgE in single-pollutant models. A small but significant joint effect of PFOA and PFOS was observed. Our results suggest that early exposure to PFOA and PFOS may disrupt neonatal immunoglobulin levels.

Keywords: Mixture analysis; Neonatal immunity; PFOA; PFOS; Quantile-based g-computation.

MeSH terms

Alkanesulfonic Acids*
Caprylates
Female
Fluorocarbons*
Humans
Immunoglobulin A
Immunoglobulin E
Immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin M
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies

Substances

Alkanesulfonic Acids
Caprylates
Fluorocarbons
Immunoglobulin A
Immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin M
Immunoglobulin E