Immunological basis of toxic oil syndrome (TOS).
The toxic oil syndrome (TOS), a multisystemic disease, that occurred in Spain in 1981, was caused by the ingestion of rapeseed oil denatured with 2% aniline. Due to the clinical course of the disease, immunopathological mechanisms have been suspected but a direct connection was never demonstrated. To analyse this possibility, we determined several immunological parameters in the sera of patients with TOS and without the disease, using a case-control design: total immunoglobulins, IgG and IgE antibodies against different toxic agents (oleylanilide, aniline, linoleyl-anilide, and 3-phenylaminopropane-1-2-diol), autoantibodies, cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, TNF, GM-CSF) and soluble receptors (sCD23 and sIL-2R). We detected high levels of sIL-2R in TOS patients compared to controls (P < 0.0001). A higher levels of sCD23 and IgE were also found. In addition, the response to oleyl-anilide of peripheral blood lymphocytes from TOS patients was studied and a significant proliferative response in 30% of TOS patients versus 5% controls was observed. Our data support the implication of the immune system in the acute phase of TOS, with a possible activation of T-cells and release of cytokines, that could explain some of the clinical findings in this phase of the disease.
Department of Immunology, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
S
S
Gallardo
V
V
del Pozo
B
B
Cárdaba
B
B
de Andrés
E
E
Martín-Orozco
J C
JC
Fernandez
P
P
Tramón
M
M
Posada
I
I
Abaitua
P
P
Palomino
D000813:Anilides / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001937:Brassica; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000276:immunology; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000506:poisoning*; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D017455:Receptors, IgE / Q000032:analysis; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D013577:Syndrome; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D000813:Anilides; D001323:Autoantibodies; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D009829:Oleic Acids; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074262:Rapeseed Oil; D017455:Receptors, IgE; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; C038731:oleoylanilide; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor