Mercury immune response

Blakley BR, Sisodia CS, Mukkur TK. 1980. The effect of methyl mercury, tetraethyl lead, and sodium arsenite on the humoral immune response in mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 52 245-254. 

Mirtcheva, J. et al., Immunological alterations inducible by mercury compounds. III. H-2A acts as an immune response and H-2E as an immune suppression locus for HgC12-induced antinucleolar autoantibodies. Eur. J. Immunol., 19, 2257, 1989. 

Mechanism of Action A heavy metal antagonist that chelates copper, iron, mercury, lead to form complexes, promoting excretion of copper. Combines with cystine-forming complex, thus reducing concentration of cystine to below levels for formation of cystine stones. Exact mechanism for rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. May decrease cell-mediated immune response. May inhibit collagen formation. Therapeutic Effect Promotes excretion of copper, prevents renal calculi, dissolves existing stones, acts as anti-inflammatory drug. 

Attention has been given to mercury as a cause of autoimmune responses, especially in the kidney (69). Exposure to mercury can cause immune responses to various auto-antigens and autoimmune disease of the kidney and other tissues. Although epidemiological studies have shown that occupational exposure to mercury does not usually result in autoimmunity, mercury can cause the formation of antinuclear antibodies,... 

Some rat and mice strains that are susceptible to autoimmune responses develop kidney damage as a result of an immune response when exposed to relatively low levels of mercury vapor or mercury chloride. 

The immune response to mercury exposure is complex, depending in part on the dose of mercury and the genetic characteristics of the exposed population (see Section 2.4). Administration of 14.8 mg Hg/kg/day as mercuric chloride to B6C3F, mice 5 days a week for 2 weeks resulted in a decrease in thymus weight (NTP 1993), suggesting immune suppression. However, a 2-week exposure to 0.7 mg Hg/kg/day as mercuric chloride in the drinking water resulted in an increase in the lymphoproliferative response after stimulation with T-cell mitogens in a strain of mice particularly sensitive to the autoimmune effects of mercury (SJL/N) (Hultman and Johansson 1991). In contrast, a similar exposure of a strain of mice (DBA/2) not predisposed to the autoimmune effects of mercury showed no increase in lymphocyte proliferation. 

The main functions of the human liver are to metabolize, transform, and store a wide variety of substances (Nieminen and Lemasters 1996). Moreover, considering its structure, function, and biochemistry, the liver is vulnerable to damage from excessive amounts of many toxic compounds (Timbrell 2009). Regarding effects on humoral immune responses, some investigations reported increased blastogenesis in human and animal lymphocytes when exposed in vitro to mercury (Exon et al. 1996 Rice 2001). 

Wayland M, Gilchrist HG, Marchant T, Keating J, Smits JE. 2002. Immune function, stress response, and body condition in Arctic-breeding common eiders in relation to cadmium, mercury, and selenium concentrations. Environ Res 90 47-60. 

The impacts of contaminants on the structure of the immune system can be assessed by examining white blood cell (WBC) numbers and the mass and cellularity of immune organs, although these indicators are usually not as sensitive as measures of immune function. Avian immunotoxicity studies frequently assess total and (or) differential WBC counts [79], and immunosuppression can be indicated by reduced numbers of WBCs or elevated WBC numbers caused by recurrent infections. An elevated heterophil to lymphocyte ratio can indicate altered immune status in response to corticosteroid stress hormones or other factors [78,7 9], Exposure to lead shot or lead acetate has been shown to alter total and (or) differential WBC numbers in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix) and mallards [81-83], In western grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis) from California, concentrations of mercury in the kidney were positively correlated with heterophil... 

Hultman, P., and Enestrom, S., Dose-response studies in murine mercury-induced autoimmunity and immune-complex disease. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol., 113, 199, 1992... 

Over the past decade there has, as result of experimental studies, been a growing appreciation that mercury may exert an effect on the immune system. As summarized by Silbergeld and Devine [72], mercury has at least two types of effects on the immune system. First, mercury induces autoimmunity to renal basement membrane proteins, causing mercury-induced glomerulonephritis in certain strains of mice and rats. Secondly, mercury exposure impairs cell-mediated and humoral immunity by affecting Thl and Th2 responses, which in turn impairs the body s ability to effectively... 

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