Immunomodulative effects of aflatoxins and selenium on human natural killer cells
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Updated: Oct 5, 2026

A Flow Cytometry-Based Cytotoxicity Assay for the Assessment of Human NK Cell Activity
Published on: August 9, 2017
G Methenitou1, C Maravelias, S Athanaselis
1Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece.
Abstract:
The possible immunomodulative effects of aflatoxin B1 and selenium (as sodium selenite) at concentrations lower than 5.10(-11) M or 0.05ppb and 10(-5) M, respectively on natural killer (NK) cells from healthy volunteers were evaluated by a 51Cr release natural killer assay. Aflatoxin B1 and selenium separately had an immunosuppressive effect on NK cell activity. When they were studied in combination, they caused a statistically significant increase of the cytotoxic activity of NK cells in the presence of the lowest concentrations of aflatoxin B1 (0.005ppb) and of sodium selenite (10(-8)M).
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