ArticleEnvironment international2021
Perfluoroalkyl substances and immune cell counts in adults from the Mid-Ohio Valley (USA).
Article in Environment international, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- In Utero Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure and Changes in Infant T Helper Cell Development among UPSIDE-ECHO Cohort Participants.Environmental health perspectives · 2026Article
- A Review on Environmental Occurrence and Toxicity of Perfluorooctanoic Acid and Its Selected Short-Chain Analogs-Perfluorohexanoic Acid and Perfluorobutanoic Acid.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Associations between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), DNA methylation and gene expression from background exposed Norwegian women (2003-2006).Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Systemic chronic inflammation mediates the effect of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure on the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: A cross-sectional study among Chinese government employees.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2025Article
- Visceral, Neural, and Immunotoxicity of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: A Mini Review.Toxics · 2025Review
- Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid exposure and heat stress on performance and liver health biomarkers in post-pubertal gilts.Journal of animal science · 2025Article
- Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances alter innate immune function: evidence and data gaps.Journal of immunotoxicology · 2024Review
- Immune cell profiles associated with human exposure to perfluorinated compounds (PFAS) suggest changes in natural killer, T helper, and T cytotoxic cell subpopulations.Environmental research · 2024Article
- Effects of Perfluorohexane Sulfonate Exposure on Immune Cell Populations in Naive Mice.ImmunoHorizons · 2024Article
- Occurrence of COVID-19 and serumGlobal epidemiology · 2024Article
- Automated, high-throughput quantification of EGFP-expressing neutrophils in zebrafish by machine learning and a highly-parallelized microscope.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Consideration of pathways for immunotoxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).Environmental health : a global access science source · 2023Review
- Article
- Emerging and legacy PFAS and cytokine homeostasis in women of childbearing age.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- How combined PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and metals may contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.International public health journalArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may be immunotoxic, evidence for this in humans is scarce. We studied the association between 4 PFASs (perfluorohexane sulfonate [PFHxS], perfluorooctanoic acid [PFOA], perfluorooctane sulfonate [PFOS] and perfluorononanoic acid [PFNA]) and circulating levels of several types of immune cells.
methodsSerum PFASs and white blood cell types were measured in 42,782 (2005-2006) and 526 (2010) adults from an area with PFOA drinking water contamination in the Mid-Ohio Valley (USA). Additionally, the major lymphocyte subsets were measured in 2010. Ln(cell counts) and percentages of cell counts were regressed on serum PFAS concentrations (ln or percentiles). Adjusted results were expressed as the percentage difference (95% CI) per interquartile range (IQR) increment of each PFAS concentration.
resultsGenerally positive monotonic associations between total lymphocytes and PFHxS, PFOA, and PFOS were found in both surveys (difference range: 1.12-7.33% for count and 0.36-1.77 for percentage, per PFAS IQR increment), and were stronger for PFHxS. These associations were reflected in lymphocyte subset counts but not percentages, with PFHxS positively and monotonically associated with T, B, and natural killer (NK) cell counts (range: 5.51-8.62%), PFOA and PFOS with some T-cell phenotypes, and PFOS with NK cells (range: 3.12-12.21%), the associations being monotonic in some cases. Neutrophils, particularly percentage (range: -1.74 to -0.36), showed decreasing trends associated with PFASs. Findings were less consistent for monocytes and eosinophils.
conclusionThese results suggest an association between PFHxS and, less consistently, for PFOA and PFOS, and total lymphocytes (although the magnitudes of the differences were small). The increase in absolute lymphocyte count appeared to be evenly distributed across lymphocyte subsets since associations with their percentages were not significant.
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