Serum Profiling of Rat Dermal Exposure to JP-8 Fuel Reveals an Acute-Phase Response

ABSTRACT Dermal exposure to JP-8 petroleum jet fuel leads to toxicological responses in humans and rodents. Serum profiling is a molecular analysis of changes in the levels of serum proteins and other molecules in response to changes in physiology. This present study utilizes serum profiling approaches to examine biomolecular changes in the sera of rats exposed to dermal applications of JP-8 (jet propulsion fuel-8). Using gel electrophoresis and electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS), levels of serum proteins as well as low-mass constituents were found to change after dermal exposures to JP-8. The serum protein levels altered included the acute-phase response proteins haptoglobin, ceruloplasmin, alpha(1)-inhibitor III, and apolipoprotein A-IV. Haptoglobin levels increased after a 1-day JP-8 dermal exposure and continued to increase through 7 days of exposure. Ceruloplasmin levels increased after 5 days of exposure. Serum alpha(1)-inhibitor III was reduced after a 1-day exposure and the depletion continued after 7 days of exposure. Apolipoprotein A-IV increased after a 1-day exposure and then returned to basal levels after 3- and 5-day exposures of JP-8. Levels of the acute-phase protein alpha(2)-macroglobulin were found to not vary over these time course studies. Using ESI-MS analysis directly on the sera from rats exposed to dermal JP-8, low-mass sera constituents were found to correlate with control (acetone) or JP-8 exposure.