Disruption of type I interferon pathway and reduced production of IFN-α by parabens in virus-infected dendritic cells

Background Parabens are widely used preservatives commonly found in foods, cosmetics, and industrial products. Several studies have examined the effects of parabens on human health owing to widespread and continuous exposure to them in daily life. However, little is known about their immune-regulatory effects. Objective Here, we aimed to investigate whether methylparaben, ethylparaben, and propylparaben affect the function of dendritic cells (DCs) as the most potent antigen-presenting cells that play a critical role in the initiation of adaptive immune responses. Methods Bone-marrow derived DCs (BMDCs) were treated with three types of parabens (methylparaben, ethylparaben, and propylparaben) for 12 h. Subsequently, the transcriptomic profile was analyzed using RNA sequencing with further gene set enrichment analysis based on commonly regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs). To test whether parabens suppress the production of type-I interferons (IFN-I) in BMDCs during viral infection, BMDCs or paraben-treated BMDCs were infected with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV) at 10 multiplicity of infection (MOI) and measured the production of IFN-α1. Results Transcriptomic analyses revealed that all three types of parabens reduced the transcription levels of genes in virus infection-associated pathways, such as IFN-I responses in BMDCs. Furthermore, parabens considerably reduced IFN-α1 production in the virus-infected BMDCs. Conclusion Our study is the first to show that parabens may modulate anti-viral immune responses by regulating DCs.