Perinatal immunotoxicity of benzene toward mouse B cell development

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7190064

Wierda, D; King, A; Luebke, R; Reasor, M; Smialowicz, R J

Benzene is widely used by chemical industries and exposure to benzene has been shown experimentally to be immunotoxic in adult animals. The present study addressed whether exposure of fetuses in utero to benzene compromises the development of fetal B lymphopoiesis and whether B-lymphocyte development recovers postnatally. Pregnant BALB/C dams were given intraperitoneal injections of benzene (100 mg/kg, twice daily) from day 12.5 of gestation through day 19.5 of gestation. Phenotypic analysis revealed that fetal liver cell suspensions from embryos exposed in utero contained fewer pre-B cells and B cells than corresponding controls. Fetal liver cell cultures established from these embryos also produced fewer B cells. In contrast, pre-B cells were elevated in the livers of 8-day-old neonates that had been exposed to benzene in utero. Moreover, responsiveness to the B-cell mitogen, LPS, was significantly decreased in spleen cell cultures derived from these neonates. The results indicate that in utero exposure to high concentrations of benzene alters fetal B lymphopoiesis and may compromise immune responsiveness postnatally.

• Research Organization: West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7190064
• Report Number(s): PB-90-199407/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMAL TISSUES
ANIMALS
AROMATICS
BENZENE
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
BONE MARROW
CARBOHYDRATES
CELL CULTURES
CELL PROLIFERATION
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
EMBRYOS
FETUSES
FLUORESCENCE
GLANDS
HEMATOPOIETIC SYSTEM
HYDROCARBONS
LEUKOCYTES
LIPIDS
LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDES
LIVER
LUMINESCENCE
LYMPHOCYTES
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
MICE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PHENOTYPE
POLYSACCHARIDES
PREGNANCY
RODENTS
SACCHARIDES
SOMATIC CELLS
SPLEEN
TERATOGENESIS
TISSUES
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES