Major findings | Biological relevance | References |
---|---|---|
↓ nTreg lymphocyte number & function in adults; redistribution in rat model of autoimmune disease | nTreg cells play critical role in immune homeostasis; alterations could affect self-recognition or influence autoimmune disease | [30] |
Prenatal As exposure ↓ infant thymic size & function | Thymus is site of T-cell development; impaired function may account for ↑ prevalence of As-associated respiratory, cancer & other immune-related effects in adulthood | |
↓ CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio in children & mice | Indicator of immune suppression | |
↓ Rejection of MHC mismatched heart/bone marrow allografts in mice | ↓ Immune surveillance could lead to immunocompromised state & ↓ ability to fight infection/cancer cells | |
↓ Resistance in mice against B16F10 melanoma resulted in 7-fold ↑ tumor burden | ↓ Anti-tumor immunity could lead to cancer development | [94] |
↓ Migration of lymphocytes, macrophages & neutrophils to lungs/DC to lymph nodes early in course of H1N1 influenza infection in mice | ↓ Immune surveillance could lead to immunocompromised state & ↓ ability to fight infection/cancer cells | [110] |
↓ DC density, IL-17 & Th17 cells in asthmatic mouse airways; ↓ Th17 cell differentiation & IL-17 release via disrupted JNK/c-Jun pathway & DC function | Th17 cells play a major role in defense against infection via release of major pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17; disruption could ↓ ability to fight infection | |
↓ Urinary HBD1 peptides in men; ↓ DEFB1 mRNA in human 293 T renal and HeLa cervical cells | HBD1 is antimicrobial peptide implicated in host anti-tumor & pulmonary immunity; its down-regulation could contribute to As-induced cancers & respiratory illnesses observed in humans | [50] |