Cytometric profiles of bone marrow and spleen lymphoid cells after mercury exposure in mice.
The potential immunotoxic effects of mercury chloride on murine bone marrow (bm) cell subpopulations, including analysis of maturation patterns for B-cells, were evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. CD-1 outbred mice were exposed for 28 days to relatively low doses of 25-100 ppm HgCl2 in drinking water and the mercury-related functional cellular changes were validated in a macrophage phagocytosis assay. Lymphocyte subsets from the bone marrow population were stained with PNA lectin and a panel of monoclonal antibodies against cell surface antigens. The incidence of subset-specific staining was also monitored in spleens and thymuses. A dose-effect correlation was noted for the mercury-related activation of macrophage phagocytosis. Subchronic exposure to mercuric chloride resulted in a transient (7-14 day) decrease of the lymphoid/total bm cell ratio and affected the incidence of splenic T-cell subsets, however, without a clear dose-response correlation. The B-cell population in spleen and maturation patterns of B-cells in bm appeared to be unaffected by the mercury exposure. Overall, cytometric analysis of lymphoid cell subsets in murine bone marrow revealed transient and subset-non-specific cell fluctuations after subchronic exposure to inorganic mercury.
Brunet
S
S
Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada.
Guertin
F
F
Flipo
D
D
Fournier
M
M
Krzystyniak
K
K
D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000276:immunology*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D005260:Female; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010587:Phagocytosis; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
D008627:Mercuric Chloride