Pokeweed mitogen

Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) contains powerful mitogens (pokeweed mitogen), including phytolacain, used to study cell function. 

Carr DJ, Carpenter GW, Garza HH Jr, France CP, Prakash OM (1995) Chronic infrequent opioid exposure suppresses 1L-2R expression on rhesus monkey peripheral blood mononuclear cells foUowing stimulation with pokeweed mitogen. Int J Neurosci 81 137-148... 

PWM Pokeweed mitogen Pyran divinylether maleic acid... 

Fig. 12. Summary of sequential investigations carried out on a patient with Bence Jones myelomatosis. Note the high blood urea, high proteinuria, and the early elevated pokeweed mitogen (PWM) response instead of elevated phytohemagglutinin (PHA) response. Urine protein , blood urea O, PWM PHA ratio o, IgM,, IgA X,IgG.

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers. No studies were located regarding immunological effects in humans after oral exposure to PBDEs. No effects on pokeweed mitogen-stimulated DNA proliferation or IgG immunoglobulin synthesis were found in human lymphocytes exposed to 2,2, 4,4 -tetraBDE or 2,2, 3,4,4 -pentaBDE in vitro (Femlof et al. 1997). 

Neutral glycosphingolipids block immune cell proliferation and IL-2 production evoked by exposure to pokeweed (aT cell mitogen) (Persat et al., 1996)... 

In vitro lymphocyte proliferative responses to mitogens such as phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen or to specific antigens of interest. The response may be measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation or by cytokine production (IFN-r, IL-2, TNF, and others). 

The possibility of using an immune-function assay as a potential biomarker for humans exposed to chromium has been examined (Snyder et al. 1996). Isolated mononuclear cells from 46 individuals who lived and/or worked in areas in northern New Jersey at sites contaminated by chromium processing were stimulated by pokeweed mitogen. Rates of stimulated cell growth and production of interleukin 6 (IL-6)... 

Kulczycki, A. Jr, Nash, G.S., Bertovich, M.J., Burack, H.D., and MacDermott, R.P. 1987. Bovine milk IgG, but not serum IgG, inhibits pokeweed mitogen-induced antibody secretion by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. J. Clin. Immunol. 7, 37—45. 

The toxic activity of the plant is unclear. Pokeweed mitogen (PWM) noted in the plant fluids may initiate changes in the immune system that alter T- and... 

Hogstedt B, Holmen A, Karlsson A, et al. 1991. Gasoline pump mechanics had increased frequencies and sizes of micronuclei in lymphocytes stimulated by pokeweed mitogen. Mut Res 263 51-55. 

Crisi, G. M., Katz, I. R., Zucker, M. B., and Thorbecke, G. T. (1996). Induction of inhibitory activity for B cell differentiation in human CDS T cells with pokeweed mitogen, dimaprit, and cAMP upregulating agents countersuppressive effect of platelet factor 4. Cell. Immunol. 172, 205-216. 

No studies were located regarding adverse immunologic or lymphoreticular effects in humans after oral exposure to selenium or selenium compounds. One study indicates lymphocyte response was enhanced, as measured by the T-lymphocyte prolific response to pokeweed mitogen in elderly people taking a selenium-enriched yeast supplement (0.0014 mg/kg/day for 6 months). However, the elderly as a group... 

Extracts of whole ripe and unripe berries, seed, pulp, root, leaf, and stem produce erythrocyte agglutination and leukocyte mitosis (Fames et al., 1964). A glycoprotein known as pokeweed mitogen is responsible for leukocyte mitosis, and in pokeweed poisonings, plasmacytosis variable in onset and lasting 2 mo or longer is seen (Barker et al., 1966 Roberge et al., 1986). 

---