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Toxicology and Industrial Health, Vol. 22, No. 3, 131-136 (2006)
DOI: 10.1191/0748233706th249oa

Effects of dioxins on the quantitative levels of immune components in infants

Hideo Kaneko

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan, hideo{at}cc.gifu-u.ac.jp

Eiko Matsui

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan

Shinnji Shinoda

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan

Norio Kawamoto

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan

Yosikazu Nakamura

Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Minami-kawachi, Japan

Ritei Uehara

Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Minami-kawachi, Japan

Nobuo Matsuura

Department of Pediatrics, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan

Masatoshi Morita

National Institute for Environmental Studies, Regional Environmental Division, Tsukuba, Japan

Hiroshi Tada

Department of Neonatology, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Naomi Kondo

Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan

Dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD)=polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF)) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are potentially hazardous compounds and have structural similarity with thyroid hormones. Animal studies have demonstrated that PCDDs, PCDFs and PCBs can alter immune functions. However, in humans it is not yet elucidated whether dioxins contained in breast milk have any effects on the immune functions in infants. To investigate the effects of dioxins on the immune system, we compared the quantitative levels of immune components between a breast-fed group and bottle-fed group, in which dioxin concentration is almost zero. Ratios of immune cells, such as CD4= and CD8= T-lymphocytes, as well as B-lymphocytes (CD19= and/or CD20=) and NK cells (CD16=, CD56=) in peripheral blood lymphocytes, serum immunoglobulin level, and level of specific IgE antibody to allergens in the venous blood at 12 months of age were assessed in a subgroup of 281 infants. The relationship of post-natal dioxin exposure via breast feeding with the ratio of immunological markers and the level of humoral antibodies up to 12 month of age was not demonstrated. In conclusion, it would appear that the content of dioxins in breast milk in the Japanese general population is not enough to induce any change in theses-examined immunological parameters during the first year of life, although long-term effects remain to be evaluated.

Key Words: breast feeding • bottle feeding • dioxins • IgE • lymphocytes subsets


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