Toxicology Letters 2004-05-02

Effect of two nitrogenous diphenyl ether pesticides on mast cell activation.

Reiko Teshima, Ryosuke Nakamura, Osamu Nakajima, Akiko Hachisuka, Jun-Ichi Sawada

Index: Toxicol. Lett. 150(3) , 277-83, (2004)

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Abstract

We examined the effect of two nitrogenous diphenyl ether pesticides, nitrofen (NIP) and chlornitrofen (CNP), on mast cell activation. RBL-2H3 (rat basophilic leukemia) cells were exposed to NIP or CNP for 30 min to investigate their effect on degranulation, and for 3 h to investigate their effect on cytokine production and gene expression. NIP and CNP increased IgE receptor-mediated beta-hexosaminidase release, MCP-1 release, and TNF-alpha release in a dose-dependent manner. The increasing effect of CNP on their release was greater than that of NIP. In the gene expression experiment, 30 microg/ml CNP significantly upregulated Egr-1, MCP-1 and GADD45a gene expression. These results suggest that at higher concentrations (more than 30 microg/ml) the nitrogenous diphenyl ether pesticides had both a degranulation-enhancing effect and proinflammatory cytokine-production enhancing effect through the expression of some transcription factors in RBL-2H3 cells.