Levels of biological markers by TCE exposure level
| Variable | Unit | Controls (n=96) | TCE-exposed workers | Ptrend* | ||||||
| <10 ppm (n=35) | ≥10 ppm (n=45) | |||||||||
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | % difference | P value† | FDR‡ | Mean (SD) | % difference | P value* | |||
| Immune regulatory | ||||||||||
| WBC§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 6060.4 (1348.3) | 6291.7 (1412.8) | 3.8 | 4.1E-01 | 6.0E-01 | 5530.9 (1239.9) | −8.7 | 1.8E-02 | 3.8E-02 |
| Granulocytes§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 3448.1 (944.7) | 3795.4 (1117.8) | 10.1 | 7.6E-02 | 2.3E-01 | 3413.8 (1005.8) | −1.0 | 7.7E-01 | 9.9E-01 |
| Monocytes§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 458.8 (179.0) | 449.7 (163.7) | −2.0 | 6.7E-01 | 7.7E-01 | 443.1 (162.4) | −3.4 | 5.7E-01 | 5.5E-01 |
| Lymphocytes§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 2153.5 (551.8) | 2046.6 (550.9) | −5.0 | 3.5E-01 | 5.9E-01 | 1674.0 (440.1) | −22.3 | 8.2E-07 | 1.8E-06 |
| T cells§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 1346.2 (376.2) | 1349.2 (390.4) | 0.2 | 6.7E-01 | 7.7E-01 | 1127.7 (344.9) | −16.2 | 9.3E-04 | 1.6E-03 |
| CD4+ T cells§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 675.0 (199.6) | 681.0 (223.8) | 0.9 | 7.9E-01 | 7.9E-01 | 571.8 (185.8) | −15.3 | 3.4E-03 | 5.1E-03 |
| CD4+ naïve§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 283.2 (125.5) | 304.5 (143.6) | 7.5 | 7.8E-01 | 7.9E-01 | 231.8 (110.8) | −18.1 | 1.2E-02 | 1.5E-02 |
| CD4+ effector memory§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 224.9 (92.9) | 181.8 (56.7) | −19.2 | 4.2E-02 | 1.9E-01 | 184.5 (86.1) | −17.9 | 1.7E-03 | 1.1E-03 |
| CD4CD25§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 68.6 (35.2) | 79.7 (34.1) | 16.3 | 1.2E-01 | 3.3E-01 | 64.4 (36.2) | −6.1 | 1.6E-01 | 2.9E-01 |
| CD4CM§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 168.6 (70.6) | 185.0 (74.3) | 9.7 | 5.3E-02 | 2.1E-01 | 168.3 (63.7) | −0.2 | 7.7E-01 | 5.7E-01 |
| CD4Fox§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 51.7 (20.8) | 50.7 (26.6) | −1.9 | 5.1E-01 | 6.5E-01 | 48.6 (25.9) | −6.0 | 2.4E-01 | 2.2E-01 |
| CD25Fox§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 53.1 (21.3) | 50.6 (25.3) | −4.7 | 4.3E-01 | 6.1E-01 | 49.0 (26.3) | −7.9 | 1.1E-01 | 1.0E-01 |
| CD8+ T cells§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 543.5 (216.0) | 527.4 (173.7) | −3.0 | 7.5E-01 | 7.9E-01 | 421.6 (146.4) | −22.4 | 3.2E-04 | 6.0E-04 |
| CD8+ naïve§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 209.9 (103.6) | 220.5 (101.2) | 5.1 | 2.9E-01 | 5.6E-01 | 150.3 (90.8) | −28.4 | 9.6E-06 | 1.4E-05 |
| CD8EM§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 149.5 (72.2) | 147.2 (69.2) | −1.6 | 5.1E-01 | 6.5E-01 | 121.4 (54.4) | −18.8 | 3.2E-02 | 5.5E-02 |
| CD8CM§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 8.5 (7.5) | 7.9 (5.5) | −7.5 | 3.3E-01 | 5.9E-01 | 8.7 (11.3) | 2.2 | 8.1E-01 | 9.4E-01 |
| B cells§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 220.9 (132.0) | 197.6 (103.6) | −10.6 | 3.6E-01 | 5.9E-01 | 157.3 (67.4) | −28.8 | 2.6E-03 | 2.9E-03 |
| NK cells§ | 103 cells/µL blood | 467.4 (278.7) | 363.8 (135.5) | −22.2 | 1.9E-01 | 4.6E-01 | 295.0 (158.7) | −36.9 | 2.2E-05 | 2.6E-05 |
| sCD27¶ | ng/mL plasma | 148.8 (107.5) | 55.4 (21.6) | −62.7 | 1.6E-07 | 5.0E-06 | 59.1 (24.5) | −60.3 | 2.3E-09 | 2.3E-10 |
| sCD30¶ | ng/mL plasma | 28.7 (18.8) | 18.7 (7.7) | −34.9 | 4.9E-03 | 5.1E-02 | 19.0 (7.7) | −33.6 | 2.1E-03 | 8.3E-04 |
| IL-10¶ | pg/mL serum | 13.8 (23.0) | 3.9 (4.3) | −72.1 | 3.4E-02 | 1.7E-01 | 4.8 (5.1) | −65.5 | 6.8E-03 | 4.2E-03 |
| IL-6¶ | pg/mL serum | 3.9 (4.5) | 4.2 (2.8) | 7.8 | 7.3E-02 | 2.3E-01 | 3.4 (5.3) | −14.6 | 4.0E-01 | 6.2E-01 |
| TNF-α¶ | pg/mL serum | 5.4 (2.8) | 5.7 (2.1) | 4.8 | 1.5E-01 | 3.9E-01 | 5.3 (2.2) | −1.7 | 5.7E-01 | 4.2E-01 |
| IgE** | µg/mL serum | 128.8 (138.5) | 101.9 (93.0) | −20.9 | 4.1E-01 | 6.0E-01 | 121.6 (136.6) | −5.6 | 9.8E-01 | 9.7E-01 |
| IgG** | µg/mL serum | 10 990.2 (2970.5) | 9235.1 (1661.6) | −16.0 | 7.6E-03 | 5.9E-02 | 8940.1 (2153.2) | −18.7 | 2.2E-04 | 2.0E-04 |
| IgM** | µg/mL serum | 1178.8 (815.8) | 764.4 (338.1) | −35.2 | 7.7E-04 | 1.2E-02 | 711.9 (365.2) | −39.6 | 2.2E-04 | 2.1E-04 |
| Kidney function | ||||||||||
| KIM-1** | ng/L urine | 211.7 (159.5) | 322.8 (249.4) | 52.5 | 1.1E-02 | 6.8E-02 | 302.2 (201.2) | 42.8 | 2.3E-04 | 2.2E-04 |
| NAG** | ng/L urine | 2.5 (1.8) | 2.6 (1.4) | 5.9 | 5.9E-01 | 7.3E-01 | 2.5 (1.8) | 2.6 | 8.8E-01 | 8.9E-01 |
| Pi-GST** | ng/L urine | 26.5 (20.1) | 33.1 (23.6) | 24.8 | 2.4E-01 | 5.0E-01 | 29.7 (26.0) | 12.0 | 8.0E-02 | 7.8E-02 |
| VEGF** | ng/L urine | 302.7 (352.4) | 238.3 (155.5) | −21.3 | 2.2E-01 | 5.0E-01 | 272.5 (189.2) | −10.0 | 6.2E-01 | 6.0E-01 |
| α-GST** | ng/L urine | 8.1 (6.4) | 8.4 (4.9) | 3.7 | 7.3E-01 | 7.9E-01 | 8.2 (8.7) | 1.2 | 8.7E-01 | 8.7E-01 |
*Trend was determined by using an ordinal variable for TCE exposure. Significant results for the exposure-response relationships and for differences between controls and the low exposure group (<10 ppm) are bolded.
†For each end point, the same covariates as in our previous reports were included in each model; covariates included in the linear models were age (continuous), sex, current smoking (yes/no), current alcohol consumption (yes/no), recent infections (flu or respiratory infections in the previous month) and body mass index (kg/m2).
‡False discovery rate.
§Analysed for 80 workers and 96 controls.
¶Analysed for 71 workers and 78 controls.
**Analysed for 80 workers and 45 controls.
IL, interleukin; NK, natural killer; TCE, trichloroethylene; TNF, tumour necrosis factor; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; WBC, white blood cell.