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REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Immunological Tolerance and Regulation
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1497405
This article is part of the Research Topic Host-Pathogen Interactions During Pregnancy: Mechanisms of Maternal and Fetal Immunity View all 6 articles

The impact of forever chemicalspersistent organic pollutants on fertility: Exposure to the environmental toxicant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin alters reproductive tract immune responses

Provisionally accepted
Victoria Stephens Victoria Stephens 1Kensley B Horner Kensley B Horner 2Walter M Avila Walter M Avila 3Sabrina K Spicer Sabrina K Spicer 2Riya Chinni Riya Chinni 2Emily B Bernabe Emily B Bernabe 4Antentor Hinton Antentor Hinton 2Steven Damo Steven Damo 3Alison J Eastman Alison J Eastman 1Monique M Mccallister Monique M Mccallister 5Kevin Osteen Kevin Osteen 1Jennifer Angeline Gaddy Jennifer Angeline Gaddy 1*
  • 1 Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States
  • 2 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • 3 Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • 4 Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Veterans Health Administration, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
  • 5 Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Exposure to environmental contaminants can result in profound effects on the host immune system. One class of environmental toxicants, known as dioxins, are persistent environmental contaminants termed "forever chemicals". The archetype toxicant from this group of chemicals is 2, 3, 7, 8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), an immunotoxicant that activates the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor pathway leading to a variety of changes in immune cell responses. Immune cell functions are crucial to the development and maintenance of healthy reproduction. Immune cells facilitate tolerance between at the maternal-fetal interface between the parent and the semi-allogenic fetus and help defend the gravid reproductive tract from infectious assault. Epidemiological studies reveal that exposure to environmental contaminants (such as TCDD) are linked to adverse reproductive health outcomes including endometriosis, placental inflammation, and preterm birth. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underpin how environmental toxicant exposures impact immune functions at the maternal-fetal interface or within the reproductive tract in general. This review presents the most recent published work that studies interactions between dioxin or TCDD exposure, the host immune system, and reproduction.

    Keywords: Environmental toxicant, TCDD, dioxin, innate immunity, Reproduction

    Received: 17 Sep 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Stephens, Horner, Avila, Spicer, Chinni, Bernabe, Hinton, Damo, Eastman, Mccallister, Osteen and Gaddy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jennifer Angeline Gaddy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.