Micovic V, Vojnikovic B, Bulog A, Coklo M, Malatestinic D, Mrakovcic-Sutic
I.
Coll Antropol. 2009 Sep;33(3):743-6.
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Rijeka,
Rijeka, Croatia.
The prevalence of environmental diseases is increasing worldwide and these
diseases are an onerous burden both to the individual and to the public
health. Urban air pollution is a grave problem in majority of metropolises,
which contain high levels of traffic congestion generating great amounts of
genotoxic substances. The contribution of such environmental exposure to
increase prevalence of many allergic, environmental diseases and multiple
chemical sensitivity or other related syndromes, as a result of an abnormal
immune response based on environmental damage of lymphocyte subsets, is
marked. Benzene is one of the most important air pollutants that are emitted
by oil industry, since they are involved in almost every refinery process.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major group of air pollutants and
play a crucial role in ecological damages, disturbing the ecosystem and
human health. The variability of pollutants is an important factor in
determining human exposure to these chemicals. The immune system possess a
capacity to distinguish between innocuous and harmful foreign antigens and
controls this action by mechanisms of central and peripheral tolerance,
where crucial role play regulatory T cells (Tregs). We analyzed the
characteristics of human Tregs of inhabitants living near gasoline industry
which have assessed moderate spyrometric tests and compared them with those
situated in rural areas. Our data demonstrate that the chronic inhalation
exposure increases the percentage of Tregs cells, but contrary those of
inhabitants with decreased spirometry values have shown diminished number of
Tregs, which may contribute to the new therapeutic approach of environmental
diseases.
PMID: 19860098 [PubMed - in process]
