Colosio C, Barcellini W, Corsini E
International Centre for Pesticide Safety, Busto Garolfo, MI.
Med Lav. 1998 May-Jun;89(3):203-25.
The immune system is able to recognize and neutralize potentially harmful agents, conferring to the organism resistance to infectious and malignant diseases. The authors have reviewed the literature and identified a group of substances able to enhance and/or reduce different immune functions, both in an experimental model and in occupational and environmental human exposure. The group includes several polyhalogenated hydrocarbons, particularly polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyls, tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), some metals like lead, cadmium and mercury, pesticides, i.e. dithiocarbamates and organotin compounds, organic solvents. The observed changes are usually slight and do not allow prognostic conclusion. In this study, the authors propose a 3-level rank of tests suitable for the immune evaluation of individuals occupationally exposed to xenobiotics, divided into three levels, as follows: tier 1: immunoglobulin classes (IgG, IgA, IgM), complement fractions (C3, C4), rheumatoid factor, and non-organ specific autoantibodies (AMA, SMA, ANA); CD3, CD4, CD8, CD57, CD20, HLA-DR; CD3/HLA-DR positive lymphocyte subsets; tier 2: determination of the mitotic response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to phytohaemoagglutinin, anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA) and polyclonal immunoglobulin production after stimulation with pokeweed mitogen; tier 3: cytokine production with and without mitogen stimulation. The approach is "step by step" and assumes the need of a closely integrated and comparative evaluation of the findings obtained. The protocol could be used in research fields; moreover, some of the tests could be useful in the monitoring of persons exposed in the environment or in the workplace to immunotoxic substances or to biological agents.
免疫系统能够识别并中和潜在的有害物质，赋予机体对感染性疾病和恶性疾病的抵抗力。作者查阅了文献，确定了一组在实验模型以及职业和环境人体暴露中能够增强和/或降低不同免疫功能的物质。该组物质包括几种多卤代烃，特别是多氯联苯、多溴联苯、四氯二苯并对二恶英（TCDD），一些金属如铅、镉和汞，农药，即二硫代氨基甲酸盐和有机锡化合物，有机溶剂。观察到的变化通常很轻微，无法得出预后结论。在本研究中，作者提出了一个适用于对职业性接触外源性物质的个体进行免疫评估的三级检测方案，分为三个级别，如下：一级：免疫球蛋白类别（IgG、IgA、IgM）、补体成分（C3、C4）、类风湿因子和非器官特异性自身抗体（AMA、SMA、ANA）；CD3、CD4、CD8、CD57、CD20、HLA-DR；CD3/HLA-DR阳性淋巴细胞亚群；二级：外周血淋巴细胞对植物血凝素、抗CD3单克隆抗体、佛波酯-肉豆蔻酸酯-乙酸酯（PMA）的有丝分裂反应测定以及用商陆有丝分裂原刺激后多克隆免疫球蛋白的产生；三级：有丝分裂原刺激和无丝分裂原刺激下的细胞因子产生。该方法是“逐步进行”的，并假设需要对所得结果进行紧密综合和比较评估。该方案可用于研究领域；此外，其中一些检测对于监测在环境或工作场所接触免疫毒性物质或生物制剂的人员可能有用。
