Gene expression changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in occupational exposure to nickel

Allergic contact dermatitis is preceded by a clinically silent phase of sensitisation. In this study, we investigated whether the expression levels of six genes were related to nickel exposure and/or nickel sensitisation, and whether they could predict allergic manifestations to nickel. The mRNA expression level of six genes involved in cell growth (PIM1 and ETS2), metabolism/synthesis (HSD11B1 and PRDX4), apoptosis (CASP8) and signal transduction (CISH) was investigated by means of quantitative real-time RT-PCR in a cohort of 110 subjects, including healthy controls (n=51), nickel-exposed workers (n=23) and patients allergic to nickel (n=36). Our findings show that the expression levels of the analysed genes did not differ between allergic patients and healthy controls, while higher expression levels of ETS2 and CASP8 were detected in the nickel-exposed workers. Changes in ETS2 and CASP8 expression are likely to be related to nickel exposure rather than to allergy.