Rodney R. Dietert

The comparative immunotoxicity of five selected compounds following developmental or adult exposure.

It is well established that human diseases associated with abnormal immune function, including some common infectious diseases and asthma, are considerably more prevalent at younger ages. Although not established absolutely, it is generally believed that development constitutes a period of increased immune system susceptibility to xenobiotics, since adverse effects may occur at lower doses and/or immunomodulation may be more persistent, thus increasing the relative risk of xenobiotic exposure to the immunologically immature organism. To address this issue, a brief overview of immune maturation in humans is provided to demonstrate that functional immaturity alone predisposes the young to infection. Age-dependent differences in the immunotoxic effects of five diverse compounds, diethylstilbestrol (DES), diazepam (DZP), lead (Pb), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and tributyltin oxide (TBTO), which have undergone adult and developmental immunotoxicity testing in rodents, are then reviewed, as are human data when available. For all five chemicals, the developing immune system was found to be at greater risk than that of the adult, either because lower doses produced immunotoxicity, adverse effects were more persistent, or both.

Genetic variation in the recruitment and activation of chicken peritoneal macrophages.

Abstract Genetic variation in the ability to recruit and activate peritoneal macrophages was examined in seven partially developed 15I5-B congenic White Leghorn chicken lines. While the ability to generate peritoneal exudate cells (PECs) was similar in all lines, major differences were observed in the numbers, composition, and functional activity of harvestable peritoneal adherent cell populations. In response to a general stimulant, Sephadex, lines .7-2 and .6-2 produced the greatest numbers of adherent peritoneal cells while lines .C-12 and .15I-5 were among the poorest responders. Macrophage percentage of adherent PECs varied between lines. 15I5 chickens produced a consistently high percentage of adherent macrophages while .6-2 birds exhibited the lowest macrophage percentage at all ages examined. Phagocytosis was used as one measure of the level of macrophage activation and similar results were obtained using both opsonized and unopsonized sheep erythrocytes; adherent peritoneal cells from lines .6-2, .7-2, and .P-13 exhibited the highest activity and .C-12, .15I-5, and background 15I5 (B 15) lines produced cells with the lowest phagocytic activity. In a second functional assay, the killing of Salmonella typhimurium, macrophage-rich cells from line .P-13 exhibited the lowest activity which was significantly lower than that obtained with cells from lines .6-2 and .15I-5. Antigen-specific stimulation of peritoneal adherent cells by ferritin also showed that .C-12 was a low responder in contrast with other lines. The results indicate that these genetic lines differ in peritoneal macrophage function and suggest that the chicken major histocompatibility complex may influence certain properties of chicken macrophage function.

Lead and Immune Function

The heavy metal lead is a widely deposited environmental toxicant known to impact numerous physiological systems, including the reproductive, neurological, hepatic, renal, and immune systems. Studies illustrating the capacity of lead to impair immune function and/or host resistance to disease date back to at least the 1960s. However, it has only been in recent years that lead has been recognized among a new category of immunotoxicants—those that dramatically shift immune functional capacity while producing only modest changes to immune cell populations and lymphoid organs. These relatively noncytotoxic immunomodulating chemicals and drugs represent the immunotoxic hazards most difficult to identify and problematic for risk assessment using historic approaches. As a result, such environmental factors are also among the most likely to contribute to chronic immune-related disease at relevant exposure levels. This review considers the animal and human evidence that lead exposure can produce a stark shift in immune functional capacity with a skewing predicted to elevate the risk of atopic and certain autoimmune diseases. At the same time, host defenses against infectious agents and cancer may be reduced. Age-based exposure studies also suggest that levels of blood lead previously thought to be safe, that is, below 10 μg/dl, may be associated with later life immune alterations.

Early‐life environment, developmental immunotoxicology, and the risk of pediatric allergic disease including asthma

Incidence of childhood allergic disease including asthma (AD-A) has risen since the mid-20th century with much of the increase linked to changes in environment affecting the immune system. Childhood allergy is an early life disease where predisposing environmental exposures, sensitization, and onset of symptoms all occur before adulthood. Predisposition toward allergic disease (AD) is among the constellation of adverse outcomes following developmental immunotoxicity (DIT; problematic exposure of the developing immune system to xenobiotics and physical environmental factors). Because novel immune maturation events occur in early life, and the pregnancy state itself imposes certain restrictions on immune functional development, the period from mid-gestation until 2 years after birth is one of particular concern relative to DIT and AD-A. Several prenatal-perinatal risk factors have been identified as contributing to a DIT-mediated immune dysfunction and increased risk of AD. These include maternal smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, diesel exhaust and traffic-related particles, heavy metals, antibiotics, environmental estrogens and other endocrine disruptors, and alcohol. Diet and microbial exposure also significantly influence immune maturation and risk of allergy. This review considers (1) the critical developmental windows of vulnerability for the immune system that appear to be targets for risk of AD, (2) a model in which the immune system of the DIT-affected infant exhibits immune dysfunction skewed toward AD, and (3) the lack of allergy-relevant safety testing of drugs and chemicals that could identify DIT hazards and minimize problematic exposure of pregnant women and children.

Perinatal Immunotoxicity: Why Adult Exposure Assessment Fails to Predict Risk

Recent research has pointed to the developing immune system as a remarkably sensitive toxicologic target for environmental chemicals and drugs. In fact, the perinatal period before and just after birth is replete with dynamic immune changes, many of which do not occur in adults. These include not only the basic maturation and distribution of immune cell types and selection against autoreactive lymphocytes but also changes designed specifically to protect the pregnancy against immune-mediated miscarriage. The newborn is then faced with critical immune maturational adjustments to achieve an immune balance necessary to combat myriad childhood and later-life diseases. All these processes set the fetus and neonate completely apart from the adult regarding immunotoxicologic risk. Yet for decades, safety evaluation has relied almost exclusively upon exposure of the adult immune system to predict perinatal immune risk. Recent workshops and forums have suggested a benefit in employing alternative exposures that include exposure throughout early life stages. However, issues remain concerning when and where such applications might be required. In this review we discuss the reasons why immunotoxic assessment is important for current childhood diseases and why adult exposure assessment cannot predict the effect of xenobiotics on the developing immune system. It also provides examples of developmental immunotoxicants where age-based risk appears to differ. Finally, it stresses the need to replace adult exposure assessment for immune evaluation with protocols that can protect the developing immune system.

L‐Arginine‐Dependent Production of a Reactive Nitrogen Intermediate by Macrophages of a Uricotelic Species

L‐arginine‐dependent production of reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNIs: nitric oxide, nitrite, and nitrate) by mammalian macrophages has been proposed to occur via an L‐arginine oxidative deimination pathway and is known to be responsible for certain antineoplastic and antimicrobial effector functions. The present study represents the first examination of this pathway in a non‐mammalian vertebrate. Because chickens, unlike mammals, lack a urea cycle and are incapable of de novo synthesis of L‐arginine, the possible existence of an avian macrophage pathway for production of RNIs is questionable. We have defined conditions under which chicken macrophages are able to produce nitrite. Sephadex‐elicited chicken peritoneal macrophages required a bacterial Ii‐popolysaccharide (LPS from Escherichia coli) signal to produce nitrite during 24 hour cultures in the presence of L‐arginine. As little as 5 ng/ml LPS resulted in significant nitrite production in culture. The relationship of nitrite production to both LPS and L‐arginine levels was dose‐dependent. D‐arginine was unable to substitute for L‐arginine but also produced no inhibitory effect In contrast, L‐NG‐monomethyl arginine showed a significant inhibitory effect on nitrite production. A virus‐transformed chicken macrophage cell line, HD11, also produced nitrite in a dose‐dependent manner relative to both LPS and L‐arginine concentration. Concentrations as low as 5 ng/ml LPS and 0.1 mM L‐arginine resulted in significant nitrite production, while maximum levels of nitrite production were obtained using ≥0.5 μg/ml LPS and ≥0.4 mM L‐arginine. These results indicate that chicken macrophages can produce RNIs. This production is dependent upon activation and is influenced by local L‐arginine concentration. Moreover, because the chicken does not possess the ability to synthesize arginine and has an absolute nutritional requirement for this amino acid, the chicken represents a highly controllable system to examine the in vivo effects of L‐arginine on macrophage‐related immune functions.

Induction of Asthma and the Environment: What We Know and Need to Know

The prevalence of asthma has increased dramatically over the last 25 years in the United States and in other nations as a result of ill-defined changes in living conditions in modern society. On 18 and 19 October 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences sponsored the workshop “Environmental Influences on the Induction and Incidence of Asthma” to review current scientific evidence with respect to factors that may contribute to the induction of asthma. Participants addressed two broad questions: a) What does the science suggest that regulatory and public health agencies could do now to reduce the incidence of asthma? and b) What research is needed to improve our understanding of the factors that contribute to the induction of asthma and our ability to manage this problem? In this article (one of four articles resulting from the workshop), we briefly characterize asthma and its public health and economic impacts, and intervention strategies that have been successfully used to prevent induction of asthma in the workplace. We conclude with the findings of seven working groups that focus on ambient air, indoor pollutants (biologics), occupational exposures, early life stages, older adults, intrinsic susceptibility, and lifestyle. These groups found strong scientific support for public health efforts to limit in utero and postnatal exposure to cigarette smoke. However, with respect to other potential types of interventions, participants noted many scientific questions, which are summarized in this article. Research to address these questions could have a significant public health and economic impact that would be well worth the investment.

Potential for Early-Life Immune Insult Including Developmental Immunotoxicity in Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Focus on Critical Windows of Immune Vulnerability

Early-life immune insults (ELII) including xenobiotic-induced developmental immunotoxicity (DIT) are important factors in childhood and adult chronic diseases. However, prenatal and perinatal environmentally induced immune alterations have yet to be considered in depth in the context of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Numerous factors produce early-life-induced immune dysfunction in offspring, including exposure to xenobiotics, maternal infections, and other prenatal–neonatal stressors. Early life sensitivity to ELII, including DIT, results from the heightened vulnerability of the developing immune system to disruption and the serious nature of the adverse outcomes arising after disruption of one-time immune maturational events. The resulting health risks extend beyond infectious diseases, cancer, allergy, and autoimmunity to include pathologies of the neurological, reproductive, and endocrine systems. Because these changes may include misregulation of resident inflammatory myelomonocytic cells in tissues such as the brain, they are a potential concern in cases of prenatal–neonatal brain pathologies and neurobehavioral deficits. Autism and ASDs are chronic developmental neurobehavioral disorders that are on the rise in the United States with prenatal and perinatal environmental factors suspected as contributors to this increase. Evidence for an association between environmentally associated childhood immune dysfunction and ASDs suggests that ELII and DIT may contribute to these conditions. However, it is not known if this linkage is directly associated with the brain pathologies or represents a separate (or secondary) outcome. This review considers the known features of ELII and DIT and how they may provide important clues to prenatal brain inflammation and the risk of autism and ASDs.

Influence of dietary selenium and vitamin E on the humoral immune response of the chick.

Abstract Nutritional deficiencies in vitamin E and/or selenium (Se) caused impaired immune function, as measured by the humoral response to ovine erythrocytes by young chicks, but only at low antigen doses. In the 2-week-old chick, both vitamin E and Se were required for optimum immune function; however, at 3 weeks of age, either vitamin E or Se was sufficient for optimum immune function. At this developmental stage, Se appeared to be capable of replacing vitamin E with regard to the immune system. Titrations of dietary vitamin E in the presence of adequate Se and the reciprocal experimental regime did not result in immune enhancement. However, the range of concentrations of each factor employed were within nutritional and nonpharmacological levels. In contrast, high dietary Se produced significant immune suppression in male but not female chicks. These data suggest that Se may be an important component of immune function, and its effect is influenced by antigen concentration, sex, and the ontogenic state.

Effect of selenium and vitamin E dietary deficiencies on chick lymphoid organ development

Abstract Diets specifically deficient in selenium (Se) and/or vitamin E or adequate in both nutrients were fed to chicks from the time of hatching. Lymphoid organs (bursa, thymus, and in some instances, spleen) were collected from chicks 7-35 days of age. Growth of the chicks fed these diets was monitored over the experimental period as was lymphoid organ growth. The development of the primary lymphoid organs was further assessed by histological techniques and the organ contents of vitamin E (α-tocopherol) and Se were determined. Specific deficiencies of either Se or vitamin E were found to significantly impair bursal growth as did a combined deficiency. Thymic growth was impaired only by the combined deficiency diet. Severe histopathological changes in the bursa resulted from the combined deficiency and these were detectable by 10-14 days after hatching. These changes were characterized by a gradual degeneration of the epithelium and an accompanying depletion of lymphocytes. Similar changes, although slower to develop and less severe, were observed in the thymus as a result of the combined deficiency. When both serum and tissue levels of vitamin E and Se were monitored, it was observed that these were rapidly and independently depleted by the specific deficiency diets. These data suggest that the primary lymphoid organs are major targets of Se and vitamin E dietary deficiencies and provide a possible mechanism by which immune function may be impaired.