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Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and liver function: a systematic review of observational studies

Abstract:

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been associated with many adverse health outcomes. However, the evidence on such associations with the liver function was not reviewed systemically. Therefore in this study, we systemically reviewed the observational studies on exposure to PAHs and liver function. The MOOSE guidelines were applied to perform this review. We systematically searched Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science for all relevant articles published in English until 10 September 2022. The quality of retrieved studies was evaluated based on the Gascon et al. method. We retrieved a total of 3927 citations through the initial search, of which an overall of five articles (n = 6994 participants) was included in our final review. The quality assessment indicated that three studies had excellent, one had good, and one had fair quality. Three reviewed studies reported a significant negative association between exposure to PAHs and liver function. One study reported a significant correlation between urinary metabolites of PAHs with serum g-glutamyltransferase (GGT), two studies reported that there was an increase in the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) related exposure to PAH-albumin adducts as well as benzo[a]pyrene (BPDE)-DNA adducts in the blood, and two studies indicated that higher levels of urinary metabolites of PAHs were associated with higher risk of abnormal levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and GGT enzymes. Overall, our review indicated that exposure to PAHs has an adverse impact on human liver function.