title: CD11c decrease in mouse thymic dendritic cells after vanadium inhalation.
abstract: Vanadium (V) is a transition metal found in air adsorbed onto suspended particles. As a result, urban populations are often exposed to this element as a constituent of particulate matter (PM). One aspect of the myriad toxicities that might arise from these exposures is altered immune responses. Previous reports from the laboratory reported modifications in splenic architecture - with germinal center hyperplasia and a suppressed humoral immune response - in mice that had been exposed to vanadium agents via inhalation. This paper reports a decrease in the presence of the CD11c surface marker on mouse thymic dendritic cells (DC) as a result of host exposure to vanadium (here, in the form of vanadium pentoxide; V(2)O(5)) over a period of 4 weeks. All results were obtained using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. It is surmised that this decrease might induce a dysfunction, including possible negative selection of T-cells, which could increase the presence of autoreactive clones in the exposed host. Such an outcome could, in turn, increase the risk for development of autoimmune reactions in different organs specifically, and of autoimmune diseases in general in these V-exposed hosts.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Celular y Tisular, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ustarroz-Cano
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García-Peláez
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piñón-Zárate
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herrera-Enríquez
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Soldevila
authors.forename: T I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Fortoul
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D039521:CD11c Antigen / Q000276:immunology*; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D001239:Inhalation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology; D014639:Vanadium / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D039521:CD11c Antigen; D014639:Vanadium