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Exposure to Low Doses of Nerve Agents Suppresses Immune Functions in Mice
Author(s) -
Naik Ramachandra S,
Tang Lin,
Sun Wei,
Matyas Gary R,
Saxena Ashima
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a442-a
Subject(s) - spleen , immune system , medicine , immunology , antigen , endocrinology , pharmacology
Several studies have indicated that exposure to low‐levels of nerve agents and smoke from oil well fires are possible causes for nonspecific symptoms collectively labeled as Gulf War Illness (GWI). It has been suggested that exposure to low doses of nerve agents causes subtle neuroimmune abnormalities that could manifest in GWI symptoms. Several studies examining immunotoxicity in terms of alterations in spleen/thymus organ weight, total cellularity, and lymphoproliferation of spleen cells in rodents, reached conflicting conclusions. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the effects of exposures to low levels of nerve agents on immune functions of mice in response to anthrax protective antigen (PA). Balb/c mice were exposed to a single or repeated (10 exposures over two weeks) low doses of sarin or VX (0.4 × LD 50 ), and immunized with PA at weeks 0 and 4. Analysis of sera for the production of anti‐PA IgG revealed that both single and multiple exposures to low doses of nerve agents suppressed antibody production. Also, a decrease in PA‐stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was observed in spleen cells from mice exposed to nerve agents. However, exposures to low doses of nerve agents had no effect on the levels of cytokine secretion (IL‐4 and TNF‐alpha) by PA‐stimulated spleen cells. These results suggest that exposures to low doses of nerve agents alter the immune functions that could lead to symptoms of GWI.