IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9711-d636034.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Upregulation of CCL7, CCL20, CXCL2, IL-1β, IL-6 and MMP-9 in Skin Samples of PCB Exposed Individuals—A Preliminary Study

Author

Listed:
  • Marike Leijs

    (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany
    Department of Dermatology, St. Nikolaus Hospital Eupen, 4700 Eupen, Belgium)

  • Katharina Fietkau

    (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

  • Hans F. Merk

    (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

  • Thomas Schettgen

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

  • Thomas Kraus

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

  • André Esser

    (Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, 52072 Aachen, Germany)

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are well known immunotoxic and carcinogenic compounds. Although cutaneous symptoms are the hallmark of exposure to these compounds, exact pathophysiologic mechanisms are not well understood. We took skin biopsies from moderately high PCB exposed workers ( n = 25) after an informed consent and investigated the expression of immunological markers such as CCL-7, CCL-20, CXCL2, IL-1β and IL-6, as well as the matrix metalloproteinase MMP-9, EPGN and NRF2 by RT-qPCR, and compared expression levels with plasma PCB levels. Statistical analyses showed a significant correlation between CCL-20, CXCL2, IL-6, IL-1β, CCL-7 and MMP-9 and PCB serum levels. EPGN and NRF2 were not correlated to PCB levels in the blood. We found a significant correlation of genes involved in autoimmune, auto-inflammatory and carcinogenesis in skin samples of PCB exposed individuals with elevated plasma PCB levels. Confirmation of these findings needs to be performed in bigger study groups and larger gen-sets, including multiple housekeeping genes. Further study needs to be performed to see whether a chronical exposure to these and similar compounds can cause higher incidence of malignancies and inflammatory disease.

Suggested Citation

  • Marike Leijs & Katharina Fietkau & Hans F. Merk & Thomas Schettgen & Thomas Kraus & André Esser, 2021. "Upregulation of CCL7, CCL20, CXCL2, IL-1β, IL-6 and MMP-9 in Skin Samples of PCB Exposed Individuals—A Preliminary Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9711-:d:636034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9711/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9711/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Masutaka Furue & Gaku Tsuji, 2019. "Chloracne and Hyperpigmentation Caused by Exposure to Hazardous Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Ligands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Hajo Haase & Astrid Fahlenkamp & Thomas Schettgen & Andre Esser & Monika Gube & Patrick Ziegler & Thomas Kraus & Lothar Rink, 2016. "Immunotoxicity Monitoring in a Population Exposed to Polychlorinated Biphenyls," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Marike M. Leijs & Lin Gan & Patrick De Boever & André Esser & Philipp M. Amann & Patrick Ziegler & Katharina Fietkau & Thomas Schettgen & Thomas Kraus & Hans F. Merk & Jens M. Baron, 2019. "Altered Gene Expression in Dioxin-Like and Non-Dioxin-Like PCB Exposed Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-16, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9711-:d:636034. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.