Immunotoxicity of N,N-diethylaniline in mice: effect on natural killer activity, cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity, lymphocyte proliferation response and cellular components of the spleen.

We previously found that N,N-diethylaniline increased the frequency of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) of human lymphocytes to about five times that of the control value, and was as toxic as cyclophosphamide used as a positive control for SCE. To explore whether N,N-diethylaniline affects the function of lymphocytes, we evaluated its immunotoxicity using CBA/N mice. The mice were divided into four groups and received 0, 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg body weight of N,N-diethylaniline by subcutaneous injection. The following items were investigated on days 3 and 7 after injection: body weight, weight of spleen, number of splenocytes, natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activities, and concanavalin A (Con A)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation using splenocytes. The following splenocyte phenotypes were also quantified by flow cytometry: (1) B cells; (2) total T cells; (3) CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells; (4) NK; (5) macrophages and (6) nucleated erythrocytes. The splenic NK and CTL activities in exposed groups significantly decreased compared to the control in a dose-dependent manner and lymphocytes from the 200 and 400 mg/kg groups showed significantly higher spontaneous proliferation. The weight of the spleen and number of splenocytes were significantly higher in exposed groups than in the control. N,N-Diethylaniline also increased the percentages of macrophages, nucleated erythrocytes and B cells in the spleen. On the other hand, N,N-diethylaniline did not affect LPS-stimulated B cell and Con A-stimulated T cell proliferation, or the percentages of NK, total T, and CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the spleen or the body weight of mice. The above findings indicated that N,N-diethylaniline selectively inhibited splenic NK and CTL activity and this inhibition was due to decreased NK and CTL functions, but not due to changes in the numbers of splenic NK and T cells.