Anyanwu Ebere, Campbell Andrew W, Jones Joseph, Ehiri John E, Akpan Akpan I
Neurosciences Research, Cahers Inc., Conroe, TX, USA.
ScientificWorldJournal. 2003 Nov 13;3:1128-37. doi: 10.1100/tsw.2003.98.
Toxigenic mold activities produce metabolites that are either broad-spectrum antibiotics or mycotoxins that are cytotoxic. Indoor environmental exposure to these toxigenic molds leads to adverse health conditions with the main outcome measure of frequent neuroimmunologic and behavioral consequences. One of the immune system disorders found in patients presenting with toxigenic mold exposure is an abnormal natural killer cell activity. This paper presents an overview of the neurological significance of abnormal natural killer cell (NKC) activity in chronic toxigenic mold exposure. A comprehensive review of the literature was carried out to evaluate and assess the conditions under which the immune system could be dysfunctionally interfered with leading to abnormal NKC activity and the involvement of mycotoxins in these processes. The functions, mechanism, the factors that influence NKC activities, and the roles of mycotoxins in NKCs were cited wherever necessary. The major presentations are headache, general debilitating pains, nose bleeding, fevers with body temperatures up to 40 degrees C (104 degrees F), cough, memory loss, depression, mood swings, sleep disturbances, anxiety, chronic fatigue, vertigo/dizziness, and in some cases, seizures. Although sleep is commonly considered a restorative process that is important for the proper functioning of the immune system, it could be disturbed by mycotoxins. Most likely, mycotoxins exert some rigorous effects on the circadian rhythmic processes resulting in sleep deprivation to which an acute and transient increase in NKC activity is observed. Depression, psychological stress, tissue injuries, malignancies, carcinogenesis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis could be induced at very low physiological concentrations by mycotoxin-induced NKC activity. In the light of this review, it is concluded that chronic exposures to toxigenic mold could lead to abnormal NKC activity with a wide range of neurological consequences, some of which were headache, general debilitating pains, fever, cough, memory loss, depression, mood swings, sleep disturbances, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and seizures.
产毒霉菌活动会产生代谢产物，这些代谢产物要么是广谱抗生素，要么是具有细胞毒性的霉菌毒素。室内环境接触这些产毒霉菌会导致健康状况不佳，主要的结果指标是频繁出现神经免疫和行为方面的后果。在有产毒霉菌接触史的患者中发现的一种免疫系统紊乱是自然杀伤细胞活性异常。本文概述了慢性产毒霉菌接触中自然杀伤细胞（NKC）活性异常的神经学意义。我们对文献进行了全面综述，以评估和评定在哪些情况下免疫系统可能受到功能失调的干扰，从而导致NKC活性异常，以及霉菌毒素在这些过程中的作用。必要时引用了影响NKC活性的功能、机制、因素以及霉菌毒素在NKC中的作用。主要表现包括头痛、全身衰弱性疼痛、鼻出血、体温高达40摄氏度（104华氏度）的发热、咳嗽、记忆力减退、抑郁、情绪波动、睡眠障碍、焦虑、慢性疲劳、眩晕/头晕，在某些情况下还会出现癫痫发作。虽然睡眠通常被认为是一个对免疫系统正常运作很重要的恢复过程，但它可能会受到霉菌毒素的干扰。很可能，霉菌毒素对昼夜节律过程产生一些严重影响，导致睡眠剥夺，在此情况下会观察到NKC活性急性和短暂增加。霉菌毒素诱导的NKC活性在非常低的生理浓度下就可能诱发抑郁、心理压力、组织损伤、恶性肿瘤、致癌作用、慢性疲劳综合征和实验性过敏性脑脊髓炎。鉴于此综述，得出的结论是，长期接触产毒霉菌可能导致NKC活性异常，并产生广泛的神经学后果，其中一些包括头痛、全身衰弱性疼痛、发热、咳嗽、记忆力减退、抑郁、情绪波动、睡眠障碍、焦虑、慢性疲劳和癫痫发作。
