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Oral Cadmium Intake Enhances Contact Allergen-induced Skin Reaction in Rats
Dina Tucovic1, Jelena Kulas1, Ivana Mirkov1
1Immunotoxicology Group, Department of Ecology, Institute for Biological Research "Sinisa Stankovic" - National Institute of Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, 142 Bulevar despota Stefana, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia.
Objective:
The effect of oral cadmium (Cd) intake to influence contact skin allergies was examined, since it is known that Cd is a heavy metal that affects many tissues, including the skin, in which it disturbs homeostasis, thus resulting in inflammation and injury.
Methods:
Male rats were evoked with experimental contact hypersensitivity reaction (CHS) to hapten dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), after prolonged (30 day) oral exposure to an environmentally relevant Cd dose (5 ppm). The ear cell population was analyzed with flow cytometry. Cytokine production by ear skin cells and the activity of skin-draining lymph node (DLN) cells were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results:
Orally acquired Cd (5 ppm) increased CHS intensity only in Dark Agouti (DA) rats by affecting inflammatory responses in both the sensitization (an increase of IFN-γ and IL-17 cytokine production) and challenge (an increase of CD8 + and CD4 + cell number and TNF, IFN-γ and IL-17 cytokine production) phases. An increased CHS reaction was seen in Albino Oxford (AO) rats only at a high Cd dose (50 ppm), during the challenge phase (an increase of CD8 + and CD4 + cell number and TNF, IFN-γ and IL-17 cytokine production).
Conclusion:
These novel data indicate that oral Cd intensifies the skin response to sensitizing chemicals such as DNCB.
