Autoimmune toxicity of chlorinated compounds

据估计，超过1000万美国人患有某种形式的自身免疫性疾病。很明显，对于大多数这些疾病，遗传和环境因素都有助于疾病的发展和进展。在特定的疾病，如系统性红斑狼疮，育龄妇女的影响率是男性的9-10倍，从人类和动物研究的数据表明，雌激素可以对自身免疫过程的过程中产生不利影响。最近相当大的兴趣集中在可能的环境因素，可能有助于发展的自身免疫性疾病一般，特别是狼疮。几种化学物质已被证明具有雌激素样作用，环境毒物可能影响自身免疫性疾病严重程度的一种机制是模仿雌激素的作用。我们实验室的初步研究发现，三种氯化农药（o，p '-DDT、十氯酮和甲氧滴滴涕）以前在体内显示出雌激素效应，它们显著加速了狼疮模型（NZB x NZW）F1（或BW 1）小鼠自身免疫性疾病的发展。一个拟议的系列实验3将通过建立三种毒物的剂量-反应关系和确定作用水平来扩展这些观察结果。为了便于外推至包括人类在内的其他物种，将确定与这些剂量对应的关键组织中的身体负荷。一个相关的目标将是确定是否可以引起自身免疫效应的这些药物后，胎儿和新生儿暴露或在小鼠品系，通常不会发展自发性狼疮。将在给予雌激素拮抗剂的小鼠中检验效应归因于雌激素活性的假设，并检查潜在机制。使用o，p '-DDT、甲氧滴滴涕和十氯酮作为原型环境雌激素性自身免疫疾病，并提供了关于这些制剂改变免疫功能的机制的重要信息。

It is estimated that upwards of 10 million Americans have some form of autoimmune disorder. It is clear that for most of these disorders both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development and progression of disease. In specific disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosis, women of childbearing age are affected at a rate 9-10 times that of men, and data both from human and animal studies suggest that estrogens can have an adverse impact on the course of the autoimmune process. Recently considerable interest has focused on possible environmental factors that may contribute to the development of autoimmune disorders in general, and lupus in particular. Several chemicals have been shown to have estrogen-like effects, and one mechanism by which environmental toxicants might influence the appearance of severity of autoimmune diseases is by mimicking the effects of estrogen. Preliminary studies in our laboratory have found that three chlorinated pesticides (o,p'-DDT, chlordecone, and methoxychlor) previously shown to have estrogenic effects in vivo significantly accelerate the development of autoimmune disease in a lupus model, (NZB x NZW)F1 (or BW1) mice. A proposed series of experiments 3will extend these observations by establishing dose-response relationships for this effect for each of the three toxicants and determining on-effect levels. To facilitate extrapolation to other species including humans, body burdens in key tissues corresponding to these dosages will be determined. A related objective will be to determine whether autoimmune effects can be elicited by these agents following fetal and neonatal exposure or in a mouse strain that does not normally develop spontaneous lupus. The hypothesis that effects are due to estrogenic activity will be tested in mice administered an estrogen antagonist, and a potential mechanism will be examined. Using o,p'-DDT, methoxychlor, and chlordecone as prototype environment estrogenic autoimmune disease, as well as provide important information regarding mechanisms through which immune function is altered by these agents.