ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Toxicol.
Sec. Immunotoxicology
Deciphering the toxicological mechanism of airway allergic diseases caused by Dioctyl terephthalate: a composite study
Zhi-qiang Zhang 1
You-wei Bao 1
Hongyou Wang 2
Jing-yang Li 3
Heng Wang 2
Xinyue Yang 3
Qi Chen 1
Jun Wu 1
Xinhua Zhu 1
1. Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
2. Jilin University, Changchun, China
3. Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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Abstract
Background: Dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP), a common plasticizer alternative, has unclear immunotoxic effects on respiratory allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma (AS), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Methods: We integrated network toxicology, target mining, bioinformatics, and machine learning to explore DOTP's potential role in allergic airway diseases. Shared targets were analyzed via PPI networks, enrichment analyses, immune profiling, single-cell data, and molecular docking. Key genes were validated in vitro using human airway epithelial cells. Results: DOTP showed potential toxicity including carcinogenicity and nephrotoxicity. It shared 136 targets with allergic diseases, mainly involved in immune and apoptotic pathways. EGFR, BCL2, CFTR, SYK, and C3AR1 were identified as core genes. DOTP showed strong binding to these targets and induced cytotoxicity and gene expression changes in epithelial cells. Conclusion: DOTP may promote allergic airway diseases via immune-related and multi-target mechanisms. These findings highlight potential health risks of DOTP exposure and warrant further investigation.
Summary
Keywords
airway allergic diseases, allergic rhinitis, Composite study, Dioctyl terephthalate, Toxicological mechanism
Received
24 November 2025
Accepted
16 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Zhang, Bao, Wang, Li, Wang, Yang, Chen, Wu and Zhu. 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: Xinhua Zhu
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