The influence of drinking-water pollution with heavy metal on the expression of IL-4 and IFN-γ in mice by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

In recent years, water pollution has been converted to a challenging discussion in health area of human being. Heavy elements are one of the most important water pollutants and their negative adverse effects on body systems have been confirmed. In this study, investigation of effects of two heavy elements including lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) on expression of interlukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) as humoral and cellular immunity biomarkers, respectively, was aimed and PCR, real-time PCR and electrophoresis techniques were used. In this study, BALB/c mice were studied that had free access to drinking water which contained Cu or Pb salts. After 2 weeks, spleens of mice were removed, RNA extracted, and cDNA was prepared for RT-PCR. Then the expression of IL-4 and IFN-γ genes were assessed by real-time PCR. The expression of IFN-γ was up-regulated in both treated groups and the expression of IL-4 was only up-regulated in the group treated with Cu and down-regulated in the group treated with Pb. This study shows that the presence of heavy elements as drinking-water pollutants results in a disproportion of natural cytokines balances, and thus may result in a negative effect on immune system.