Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Room W7033B, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Curr Environ Health Rep. 2017 Jun;4(2):229-243. doi: 10.1007/s40572-017-0141-4.
Arsenic, a known carcinogen and developmental toxicant, is a major threat to global health. While the contribution of arsenic exposure to chronic diseases and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes is recognized, its ability to impair critical functions of humoral and cell-mediated immunity-including the specific mechanisms in humans-is not well understood. Arsenic has been shown to increase risk of infectious diseases that have significant health implications during pregnancy and early life. Here, we review the latest research on the mechanisms of arsenic-related immune response alterations that could underlie arsenic-associated increased risk of infection during the vulnerable periods of pregnancy and early life.
The latest evidence points to alteration of antibody production and transplacental transfer as well as failure of T helper cells to produce IL-2 and proliferate. Critical areas for future research include the effects of arsenic exposure during pregnancy and early life on immune responses to natural infection and the immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines.
砷是一种已知的致癌物质和发育毒物，对全球健康构成重大威胁。虽然砷暴露对慢性疾病以及不良妊娠和出生结局的贡献已得到公认，但人们对其损害体液和细胞介导免疫的关键功能的能力（包括人类的具体机制）仍了解甚少。已有研究表明，砷会增加传染病的风险，而这些传染病在妊娠和生命早期对健康有重大影响。在此，我们综述了最新的关于砷相关免疫反应改变机制的研究，这些机制可能是砷相关感染风险增加的基础，尤其是在妊娠和生命早期这两个脆弱时期。
最新证据表明，砷会改变抗体的产生和胎盘转移，以及辅助性 T 细胞无法产生白细胞介素 2 和增殖。未来研究的关键领域包括妊娠和生命早期砷暴露对自然感染免疫反应以及疫苗的免疫原性和功效的影响。
