TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in the individuals exposed to arsenic
AU - Biswas, R.
AU - Ghosh, P.
AU - Banerjee, N.
AU - Das, J. K.
AU - Sau, T.
AU - Banerjee, A.
AU - Roy, S.
AU - Ganguly, S.
AU - Chatterjee, M.
AU - Mukherjee, A.
AU - Giri, A. K.
PY - 2008/5/1
Y1 - 2008/5/1
N2 - Over six million people in nine districts of West Bengal, India are exposed to very high levels of arsenic primarily through their drinking water. More than 300,000 people showed arsenic-induced skin lesions in these districts. This is regarded as the greatest arsenic calamity in the world. Chronic arsenicosis causes varied dermatological signs ranging from pigmentation changes, hyperkeratosis to non-melanocytic cancer of skin, and also malignancies in different internal organs. Higher incidences of opportunistic infections are found in the arsenic-exposed individuals, indicating that their immune systems may be impaired somehow. We have thus investigated the effect of arsenic on T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in 20 individuals with arsenic-induced skin lesions and compared the results with 18 arsenic-unexposed individuals. A marked dose-dependent suppression of Concanavalin A (Con A) induced T-cell proliferation was observed in the arsenic-exposed individuals compared with the unexposed (P < 0.001) individuals. This correlated with a significant decrease in the levels of secreted cytokines by the T cells (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL2, IL10, IL5, and IL4) in the exposed individuals (P < 0.001). Thus it can be inferred that arsenic exposure can cause immunosuppression in humans.
AB - Over six million people in nine districts of West Bengal, India are exposed to very high levels of arsenic primarily through their drinking water. More than 300,000 people showed arsenic-induced skin lesions in these districts. This is regarded as the greatest arsenic calamity in the world. Chronic arsenicosis causes varied dermatological signs ranging from pigmentation changes, hyperkeratosis to non-melanocytic cancer of skin, and also malignancies in different internal organs. Higher incidences of opportunistic infections are found in the arsenic-exposed individuals, indicating that their immune systems may be impaired somehow. We have thus investigated the effect of arsenic on T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion in 20 individuals with arsenic-induced skin lesions and compared the results with 18 arsenic-unexposed individuals. A marked dose-dependent suppression of Concanavalin A (Con A) induced T-cell proliferation was observed in the arsenic-exposed individuals compared with the unexposed (P < 0.001) individuals. This correlated with a significant decrease in the levels of secreted cytokines by the T cells (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL2, IL10, IL5, and IL4) in the exposed individuals (P < 0.001). Thus it can be inferred that arsenic exposure can cause immunosuppression in humans.
KW - Concanavalin A
KW - Cytometric bead array
KW - Lymphocytes
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U2 - 10.1177/0960327108094607
DO - 10.1177/0960327108094607
M3 - Article
C2 - 18715884
AN - SCOPUS:52649095364
VL - 27
SP - 381
EP - 386
JO - Human and Experimental Toxicology
JF - Human and Experimental Toxicology
SN - 0960-3271
IS - 5
ER -