Biomaterial Database

Altered cytokine production in mice exposed to lead acetate. 2004

I Iavicoli, and A Marinaccio, and N Castellino, and G Carelli

Institute of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.

Previous investigations have shown that Pb exerts immunotoxic effects. Object of this study were Th1 and Th2-type immune responses of mice to Pb exposure. Adult Swiss male mice were administered 0, 40 and 400 mg/l of Pb (as acetate) in drinking water for 14 days. At the end of the treatment, blood Pb was determined and two Th1 cytokines (IL-2, INF-gamma) and one Th2 serum cytokine (IL-4) were measured. A significant increase in IL-4 production was observed in the mice exposed to 40 mg/l of Pb, while a further increase in IL-4 production was associated with a decrease in INF-gamma production in mice exposed to 400 mg/l of Pb. On the other hand, Pb exposure did not induce changes of serum IL-2 (involved also in the Th0 immune pattern). Our findings indicate that low level Pb exposure enhances a Th2 response. A high Pb does can either stimulate the Th2 immune activity or reduce the Th1 response; the result is an imbalance between Th1 and Th2 activation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009942	Organometallic Compounds	A class of compounds of the type R-M, where a C atom is joined directly to any other element except H, C, N, O, F, Cl, Br, I, or At. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)	Metallo-Organic Compound,Metallo-Organic Compounds,Metalloorganic Compound,Organometallic Compound,Metalloorganic Compounds,Compound, Metallo-Organic,Compound, Metalloorganic,Compound, Organometallic,Compounds, Metallo-Organic,Compounds, Metalloorganic,Compounds, Organometallic,Metallo Organic Compound,Metallo Organic Compounds
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D014874	Water Pollutants, Chemical	Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water.	Chemical Water Pollutants,Landfill Leachate,Leachate, Landfill,Pollutants, Chemical Water
D016207	Cytokines	Non-antibody proteins secreted by inflammatory leukocytes and some non-leukocytic cells, that act as intercellular mediators. They differ from classical hormones in that they are produced by a number of tissue or cell types rather than by specialized glands. They generally act locally in a paracrine or autocrine rather than endocrine manner.	Cytokine
D051379	Mice	The common name for the genus Mus.	Mice, House,Mus,Mus musculus,Mice, Laboratory,Mouse,Mouse, House,Mouse, Laboratory,Mouse, Swiss,Mus domesticus,Mus musculus domesticus,Swiss Mice,House Mice,House Mouse,Laboratory Mice,Laboratory Mouse,Mice, Swiss,Swiss Mouse,domesticus, Mus musculus
D018417	Th1 Cells	A subset of helper-inducer T-lymphocytes which synthesize and secrete INTERLEUKIN-2; INTERFERON-GAMMA; and INTERLEUKIN-12. Due to their ability to kill antigen-presenting cells and their lymphokine-mediated effector activity, Th1 cells are associated with vigorous delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions.	T Helper 1 Cells,TH-1 Cells,Type 1 Helper T Cells,Cell, TH-1,Cell, Th1,Cells, TH-1,Cells, Th1,TH 1 Cells,TH-1 Cell,Th1 Cell
D018418	Th2 Cells	A subset of helper-inducer T-lymphocytes which synthesize and secrete the INTERLEUKINS IL-4; IL-5; IL-6; and IL-10. These cytokines influence B-cell development and antibody production as well as augmenting humoral responses.	T Helper 2 Cell,T Helper2 Cell,TH-2 Cell,Th2 Cell,Type-2 Helper T Cell,T Helper 2 Cells,T Helper2 Cells,TH-2 Cells,Type-2 Helper T Cells,Cell, T Helper2,Cell, TH-2,Cell, Th2,Cells, T Helper2,Cells, TH-2,Cells, Th2,TH 2 Cell,TH 2 Cells,Type 2 Helper T Cell,Type 2 Helper T Cells