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No evidence for specific in vitro lymphocyte reactivity to HgCl 2 in patients with dental amalgam‐related contact lesions
Author(s) -
Loftenius A.,
Skoglund A.,
Ekstrand J.,
Hovmark A.,
Möller E.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.1999.tb02055.x
Subject(s) - lymphocyte , in vitro , immunology , amalgam (chemistry) , t lymphocyte , contact allergy , interleukin 4 , oral and maxillofacial pathology , cytokine , medicine , chemistry , pathology , allergy , contact dermatitis , dentistry , immune system , biochemistry , electrode
Blood lymphocytes from 20 patients with oral contact lesions to dental amalgam and 10 healthy individuals were analyzed for HgCl 2 ‐induced proliferation in vitro , using both a modified assay and a conventional assay. The release of interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) was measured in cell supernatants. Six patients displayed positive reactions in patch tests to mercuric compounds. No significant differences were recorded in HgCl 2 ‐induced proliferation in cells from patients and controls, since only few in the whole material responded to submitogenic concentrations. IFN‐γ was detectable in cell supernatants from some patients but also from controls and is not predictive of mercury allergy. Neither the phenotypes of peripheral lymphocyte subsets, the frequency of circulating cells expressing the interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) receptor, spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation nor concentrations of serum interleukin‐6 differed between patient and control samples. In contrast to what has been claimed before, we did not find any evidence for specific in vitro lymphocyte reactivity in patients with oral contact lesions.