The correlation of bisphenol A exposure on inflammatory cytokines in preschool children

Objective

Based on current evidence suggesting that bisphenol A (BPA) may contribute to obesity through the modulation of inflammatory markers, this study aims to investigate the correlation between BPA exposure and cellular inflammatory factors in preschool children.

Methods

A total of 155 preschool children aged 4–6 years were included. Urine and blood samples were collected. BPA exposure was detected by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry through urine samples. The levels of six inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) were determined by flow fluorescence technique. The correlation between urinary BPA exposure and cellular inflammatory factors was analyzed using Spearman's correlation and respectively stratified by gender and BMI.

Results

The detection rate of BPA in urine samples was 100 %. The median urinary BPA concentration was 0.48 μg/L(IQR:0.25–1.02 μg/L), and the creatinine-adjusted BPA concentration was 0.94 μg/g(IQR:0.57–1.66 μg/g). BPA level was negatively correlated with IL-10 (r = −0.172, P < 0.05). After stratification by gender, the negative association between BPA exposure and IL-10 was found in females (r = −0.257, P < 0.05), while no association was found in males. According to BMI stratification, BPA exposure in overweight/obese children was positively correlated with IL-6 (r = 0.354, P < 0.05).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrated that BPA exposure in preschool children was correlated with a decrease in levels of IL-10, and this effect was significantly expressed in girls. In addition, BPA exposure in overweight/obese children was correlated with increased levels of IL-6. However, the mechanism between BPA and inflammatory factors remains to be further explored.