The injury progression of T lymphocytes in a mouse model with subcutaneous injection of a high dose of sulfur mustard

Yi-Zhou Mei; Xiao-Rui Zhang; Ning Jiang; Jun-Ping Cheng; Feng Liu; Pan Zheng; Wen-Xia Zhou; Yong-Xiang Zhang

doi:10.1186/s40779-014-0028-8

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The injury progression of T lymphocytes in a mouse model with subcutaneous injection of a high dose of sulfur mustard

RESEARCH | Updated：2026-03-12

- The injury progression of T lymphocytes in a mouse model with subcutaneous injection of a high dose of sulfur mustard
- Military Medical Research Vol. 1, Issue 3, Pages: 162-172(2014)
- Affiliations：
  
  State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
- Author bio：
  
  *: zhouwx@bmi.ac.cn (WX Zhou),
  zhangyx@bmi.ac.cn (YX Zhang).
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1186/s40779-014-0028-8
  CLC：
- Published：2014-09
- Accepted：
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Mei et al.: The injury progression of T lymphocytes in a mouse model with subcutaneous injection of a high dose of sulfur mustard. Mil Med Res 2014, 1: 28
DOI：

Mei et al.: The injury progression of T lymphocytes in a mouse model with subcutaneous injection of a high dose of sulfur mustard. Mil Med Res 2014, 1: 28 DOI： 10.1186/s40779-014-0028-8.

摘要

Abstract

Background:

In clinical studies

the findings on sulfur mustard (SM) toxicity for CD3

CD4

and CD3

CD8

T lymphocyte subsets are contradictory. In animal experiments

the effect of SM on the T cell number and proliferation is incompatible and is even the opposite of the results in human studies. In this study

we observed the dynamic changes of T lymphocytes in the first week in a high-dose SM-induced model.

Methods:

Mice were exposed to SM by subcutaneous injection (20 mg/kg) and were sacrificed 4 h

24 h

72 h and 168 h later. Spleen T lymphocyte proliferation was evaluated by

H-TdR. Flow cytometric analysis was used to observe the percentage of CD3

CD4

and CD3

CD8

T lymphocyte subsets. The IL-1β

IL-6

IL-10 and TNF-α levels in plasma were assayed using the Luminex method. DNA damage in bone marrow cells was observed with the single cell gel electrophoresis technique (SCGE).

Results:

SM continuously inhibited the proliferation of lymphocytes for 7 days

and there was a significant rebound of Con A-induced T lymphocyte proliferation only at 24 h. The percentage of CD3

CD4

and CD3

CD8

lymphocytes was upregulated

which was accompanied by increased IL-1β and TNF-α and decreased IL-10. The IL-6 level was gradually decreased in the PG group at 4 h. The peak of lymphocytic apoptosis and DNA damage occurred at 24 h and 72 h

respectively.

Conclusion:

Our results show that SM significantly inhibited T lymphocyte proliferation as well as induced CD3

CD4

and CD3

CD8

upregulation. SM intoxication also significantly increased the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β

IL-6 and TNF-α) and inhibited the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Our results may partly be due to the significant SM induced significant apoptosis and necrosis of lymphocytes as well as DNA damage of bone marrow cells. The results provided a favorable evaluation of SM immune toxicity in an animal model.

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references

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