Soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (sTNF RII) in sera of children and traffic-derived particulate air pollution

Tumor necrosis factor receptor (sTNF RII) was determined in sera of 160 healthy schoolchildren of the city of Düsseldorf, Germany, living in areas with different traffic density. According to the frequency distribution a higher prevalence of children with increased sTNF RII values (> 3000 pg/ml) were found for a high traffic area as compared to a low traffic area. Based on sTNF RII values above the 75% percentile of children from the low traffic area, the group of children from the high traffic area revealed a significant increased odds ratio of 2.5. Concerning traffic-derived particulate air pollution an association between the concentration of fine particles (PM2.5) and sTNF RII serum levels could be observed for both areas. Furthermore, sTNF RII values gave a significant positive correlation with C3c, an activation product of the complement component C3. C3c has been shown to be a sensitive indicator of the non-specific humoral defence in response to air pollution. Therefore, the results suggest that traffic-derived fine particles may upon inhalation trigger immune modulation via the activation of macrophages and enhanced cytokine production.