Inflammatory Mediator Profiling of n-butanol Exposed Upper Airways in Individuals with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
November
Inflammatory Mediator Profiling of n-butanol Exposed Upper Airways in Individuals with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Thomas Meinertz Dantoft 0 1 2
Sine Skovbjerg 0 1 2
Linus Andersson 0 1 2
Anna-Sara Claeson 0 1 2
Nina Lind 0 1 2
Steven Nordin 0 1 2
Susanne Brix 0 1 2
0 Editor: Gernot Zissel , Universitatsklinikum Freiburg, GERMANY
1 Current Address: Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Uppsala , Sweden
2 1 Danish Research Centre for Chemical Sensitivities, Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark, 2 Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Department of Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark , Kongens Lyngby , Denmark , 3 Research Centre for Prevention and Health , Capital Region, Copenhagen , Denmark , 4 Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden, 5 Department of Occupational and Public Health Sciences, University of Gävle , Umeå , Sweden
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Eighteen participants with MCS and 18 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were
enrolled in the study. Epithelial lining fluid was collected from the nasal cavity at three time
points: baseline, within 15 minutes after being exposed to 3.7 ppm n-butanol in an exposure
chamber and four hours after exposure termination. A total of 19 cytokines and chemokines
were quantified. Furthermore, at baseline and during the exposure session, participants
rated the perceived intensity, valence and levels of symptoms and autonomic recordings
were obtained.
Results
The physiological and psychophysical measurements during the n-butanol exposure ses
sion verified a specific response in MCS individuals only. However, MCS subjects and
healthy controls displayed similar upper airway inflammatory mediator profiles (P>0.05) at
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a chronic condition characterized by reports of recurrent symptoms in response to low level exposure to various chemical substances. Recent findings suggests that dysregulation of the immune system may play a role in MCS pathophysiology.
The aim of this study was to examine baseline and low dose n-butanol-induced upper air
way inflammatory response profiles in MCS subjects versus healthy controls.
OPEN ACCESS
Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: This work was supported by the Swedish
Research Council for Health, Working Life and
Welfare (2011-0396) (http://www.forte.se/en/, SN); the
Swedish Research Council Formas (http://www.vr.se/
inenglish.4.12fff4451215cbd83e4800015152.html,
AC); the Danish Ministry of the Environment (http://
eng.mim.dk/, sponsored the Danish Research Centre
for Chemical Sensitivities). The funders had no role in
study design, data collection and analysis, decision to
publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Background
Objectives
Method
Competing Interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
baseline. Likewise, direct comparison of mediator levels in the MCS group and controls
after n-butanol exposure revealed no significant group differences.
Conclusion
We demonstrate no abnormal upper airway inflammatory mediator levels in MCS subjects
before or after a symptom-eliciting exposure to low dose n-butanol, implying that upper
airways of MCS subjects are functionally intact at the level of cytokine and chemokine
production and secretory capacity. This suggests that previous findings of increased cytokine
plasma levels in MCS are unlikely to be caused by systemic priming via excessive upper
airway inflammatory processes.
Introduction
A substantial proportion of the adult population report different degrees of chemical
intolerances towards everyday chemicals, e.g. fragranced consumer products, car exhaust, pesticides
and new furniture’s at concentrations usually considered to be harmless [
1
]. The estimated
prevalence varies substantially but in about 0.5% to 6.3% of the population [
2–4,4–8
],
exposures to everyday chemicals elicit a complex array of symptoms at a much greater magnitude
and often with disabling consequences in the form of social and occupational lifestyle changes
and reduction in life quality [
9,10
]. Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a common term
used to describe this severe form of chemical intolerance [
11,12
].
Controversially, no dose-response relationship has been identified linking exposure
concentration to the symptom magnitude in MCS [
13
] and the type and severity of reported
symptoms to an exposure are highly variable. Symptoms from the central nervous system (CNS)
conveyed by migraine headaches, dizziness, extreme fatigue, and concentration difficulties are
common, often combined with non-specific symptoms from other organ systems such as the
mucosa/respiratory tract, musculoskeletal system and/or the gastro-intestinal tract [
8,11,13
].
Both physiological and psychological processes have been suggested as underlying
mechanisms in MCS, but no definit con (...truncated)