title: High consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea is associated with changes in human lymphocyte subset levels.
abstract: Fatty fish from the Baltic Sea accumulate immunotoxic persistent organochlorine compounds. In a previous study we found inverse correlations between such fish consumption and natural killer (NK) cell levels in a Swedish population. The present study concerns 68 Latvian subjects with high, low or intermediate fish consumption. High fish consumption correlated positively with B cell levels and CD4+/CD8+ ratios, but negatively with levels of cytotoxic (CD8+) T cells. Furthermore, NK cell levels correlated inversely with plasma selenium, one of several strong correlates with fish intake. A high fish diet includes a set of possible immunomodulating agents. It is presently not possible to pinpoint the cause for the observed subset deviations or to establish their possible biological importance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagmar
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hallberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leja
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schütz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio / Q000187:drug effects; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity; D008875:Middle Aged; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood / Q000494:pharmacology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D012643:Selenium