Selgrade Maryjane K
US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, MD B143-01, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA.
Toxicol Sci. 2007 Dec;100(2):328-32. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfm244. Epub 2007 Sep 17.
Several papers published over the last year represent significant progress in closing the gap between rodent immunotoxicity data and human risk and indicate that, at least for the developing immune system, the concern raised by rodent data is justified. The studies reviewed here show that suppression of immune responses in rodents is predictive of suppression of immune responses in humans and that there is a relationship between immune suppression following developmental exposure to the toxicants and enhanced risk of infectious or neoplastic disease in humans. The three cases highlighted here are remarkable in that they all deal with real-world environmental exposures that represent different media -- air (cigarette smoke), water (arsenic), and food (polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]) -- and constitute very real risks. Moreover, the arsenic and PCB studies actually demonstrate a quantitative relationship between human exposure and immune suppression. There is evidence that in utero exposure to cigarette smoke and arsenic but not PCBs is associated with increased risk of allergic disease as well. There is clearly potential for designing studies that could address both issues.
过去一年发表的几篇论文在缩小啮齿动物免疫毒性数据与人类风险之间的差距方面取得了重大进展，这表明，至少对于发育中的免疫系统而言，啮齿动物数据引发的担忧是合理的。这里回顾的研究表明，啮齿动物免疫反应的抑制可预测人类免疫反应的抑制，并且发育过程中接触有毒物质后的免疫抑制与人类感染性或肿瘤性疾病风险增加之间存在关联。这里突出强调的三个案例很显著，因为它们都涉及现实世界中的环境暴露，这些暴露代表了不同的介质——空气（香烟烟雾）、水（砷）和食物（多氯联苯[PCBs]）——并构成了非常现实的风险。此外，砷和多氯联苯的研究实际上证明了人类暴露与免疫抑制之间的定量关系。有证据表明，子宫内接触香烟烟雾和砷而非多氯联苯也与过敏性疾病风险增加有关。显然有潜力设计出能够解决这两个问题的研究。
