Abstract:Objective: To investigate the effect of environmental endocrine disruptor perfluorooctane suifonate(PFOS) on the cell damage and expression of inflammatory factors in mouse BV-2 microglial cells. Methods: The microglial cells were cultured by different concentrations of PFOS with various periods in vitro, and the activity of BV-2 cells was detected by using MTT method. Real-time PCR assay was performed to detect the mRNA expression of the inflammatory factors, including inducible nitric oxide synthesis(iNOS), tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α and interleukin(IL)-6. At protein level, ELISA was used to analyze the excretion of IL-6 in BV-2 cells mediated by PFOS. Moreover, the signal pathway, especially the nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB), was evaluated by Western blot. Results: The BV-2 cells were incubated with varied doses of PFOS for 12 or 24 h, and then the cell viability was significantly decreased, which led to significant cell damage. ELISA data showed a significant incretion of the cytokine factor IL-6 after BV-2 cells were incubated with PFOS for 24 h. PFOS markedly up-regulated iNOS and IL-6 mRNA expression, while TNF-α was down-regulated. Therefore, we discovered that PFOS substantially activated and phosphorylated the NF-κB pathway in a dose dependent manner. In addition, with the increase of exposure time, the expression of p-NF-κB was also increased. Conclusion: Our results showed that PFOS markedly decreased the BV-2 cell viability, activated the NF-κB pathway, and excreted the cytokines. These results taken together might provide a new molecular mechanism supporting the PFOS-induced neural damage.