IL-22 mRNA Expression in Blood Samples as a Useful Biomarker for Assessing the Adverse Health Effects of PCBs on Allergic Children

Mayumi Tsuji, Toshihiro Kawamoto, Chihaya Koriyama and Fumio Matsumura
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Mayumi Tsuji: Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Toshihiro Kawamoto: Department of Environmental Health, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahatanishi-ku, Kitakyusyu 807-8555, Japan
Chihaya Koriyama: Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan
Fumio Matsumura: Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: To facilitate the assessment of adverse effects of very low concentrations of air pollutants on general populations, we planned to establish a reliable biomarker that is also useful in identifying vulnerable populations. For this purpose we monitored several inflammation markers in blood samples from 2 year old Japanese children (N = 30), and found that those children living close to major highways (<50 m) show higher levels of mRNA expression IL-22 in their blood samples than those living further away (+50 m). This tendency was more pronounced among subjects showing positive IgE against egg and milk. We further examined association between IL-22 mRNA expression and PCB residues and found a number of significant positive correlations between each individual PCB congener and IL-22 expression. To identify the most vulnerable population among those children we selected asthma as a typical allergy-related disease, and could show that there are significant differences in the levels of IL-22 mRNA expression between IgE negative non-asthmatic subject and asthmatic children showing positive IgE reaction toward egg or milk, again. These observations support our main conclusion that IL-22 expression is a sensitive biomarker which is useful in identifying sub-populations of children who are especially vulnerable to air pollution.

Keywords: childhood allergy; biomarkers; environmental pollutants; IL-22; PCB (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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