Targeted Proteomic Analyses of Nasal Lavage Fluid in Persulfate-Challenged Hairdressers with Bleaching Powder-Associated Rhinitis

Hairdressers have an increased risk for developing airway symptoms, for example, asthma and rhinitis. Persulfates, which are oxidizing agents in bleaching powder, are considered important causal agents for these symptoms. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The aim was therefore to measure proteomic changes in nasal lavage fluid from persulfate-challenged subjects to identify proteins potentially involved in the pathogenesis of bleaching powder-associated rhinitis or candidate effect biomarkers for persulfate. Also, oxidized peptides were measured to evaluate their usefulness as biomarkers for persulfate exposure or effect, for example, oxidative stress. Samples from hairdressers with and without bleaching powder-associated rhinitis were analyzed with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using selected reaction monitoring to target 246 proteins and five oxidized peptides. Pathway analysis was applied to obtain a functional overview of the proteins. Several proteins involved in biologically meaningful pathways, functions, or disorders, for example, inflammatory responses, oxidative stress, epithelium integrity, and dermatological disorders, changed after the persulfate challenge. A list with nine proteins that appeared to be affected by the persulfate challenge and should be followed up was defined. An albumin peptide containing oxidized tryptophan increased 2 h and 5 h after the challenge but not after 20 min, which indicates that such peptides may be useful as oxidative stress biomarkers.