Human & Experimental Toxicology

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Heo, Y
Right arrow Articles by Lawrence, D A
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Heo, Y
Right arrow Articles by Lawrence, D A
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 23, No. 5, 209-213 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/0960327104ht442oa

Serum IgE elevation correlates with blood lead levels in battery manufacturing workers

Y Heo

Catholic University of Daegu, Department of Occupational Health, 330 Kumrak 1-ri, Hayang-eup, Kyongsan-si, Kyongbuk, Korea

B-K Lee

K-D Ahn

Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Chunan-si, Choongnam, Korea

D A Lawrence

Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology and Immunology, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA, david.lawrence{at}wadsworth.org

Lead (Pb), an occupational and environmental toxicant, is known to induce immunomodulatory effects resulting in lowered resistance to infectious micro-organisms and altered levels of immunoglobulins in humans. Preferential activation of type-2 helper T cells and inhibition of type-1 T-cell activation is considered a cellular mechanism for the Pb-induced immune alteration, which has not been investigated well in humans. Lead's influence on in vivo balance between type-1 and type-2 activities was assessed among workers exposed to Pb through battery manufacturing in Korea. Serum IgE levels were significantly higher in the workers with a blood Pb level (PbB) of ≤30 µg/dL than in the workers with a PbB of <30 µg/dL. Furthermore, the serum IgE concentrations significantly correlated with PbB although no significant relationship between PbB and serum interleukin-4 or interferon gamma levels was observed. The present study indicates that elevation of IgE levels may be an immunologic index for Pb-induced in vivo toxicities, potentially involved with progression of various allergic diseases in humans.

Key Words: battery workers • cytokines • IgE • serum


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Toxicol SciHome page
N. Y. A. Hemdan, F. Emmrich, K. Adham, G. Wichmann, I. Lehmann, A. El-Massry, H. Ghoneim, J. Lehmann, and U. Sack
Dose-Dependent Modulation of the In Vitro Cytokine Production of Human Immune Competent Cells by Lead Salts
Toxicol. Sci., July 1, 2005; 86(1): 75 - 83.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]