title: Effect of lead exposure on the immune response of some occupationally exposed individuals.
abstract: Lead is a ubiquitous pollutant in the industrial environment, which poses serious threats to human health. In the past 20 years increasing attention has been paid to the effects of lead exposure on health. This toxic metal alters the immune response of animals as well as humans. To study the immunological effects of occupational exposure to lead, we examined lymphocyte proliferation, natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and interferon-gamma production with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of individuals occupationally exposed to lead. We selected three different groups of individuals exposed to lead: three-wheeler drivers (30), battery workers (34) and silver jewelery makers (20); and unexposed healthy volunteers (30) as control for comparison. Our results indicate that though lymphocyte proliferation to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) is inhibited in lead exposed individuals as compared with unexposed volunteers, there is no correlation between inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation and blood lead level. NK cell cytotoxicity remains unaffected in individuals exposed to lead as compared with controls. On the other hand, we observed that interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was significantly elevated in T cell mitogen, PHA, stimulated PBMCs culture supernatant of lead exposed individuals. We found significant positive correlation between blood lead levels and IFN-gamma produced in culture supernatant on stimulation with PHA. In brief, this study demonstrates that lead can affect the immune response of the occupationally exposed individuals such as three-wheeler drivers, battery reconditioning workers and silver jewelery makers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, 226 014, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Kamla Prasad
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Vijay Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Reena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rani
authors.forename: Virendra Singh
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chandran
authors.forename: Satya Prakash
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Prahlad Kishore
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Seth
mesh_terms: D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000187:drug effects; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D007854:Lead; D007371:Interferon-gamma