Exposure to airborne nickel and phenol and features of the immune response mediated by E and G immunoglobulins

Abstract

Ambient air pollution with potentially allergenic technogenic haptens facilitates occurrence of atopic reactions and creates favorable conditions for future development of allergic pathologies in exposed population. The aim of this study was to estimate formation of an IgE-mediated and IgG-mediated specific immune response to low-molecular chemical compounds introduced into the body by inhalation (nickel and phenol used as examples). The test groups were made of children (n = 99) and adults (n = 57) who lived under exposure to airborne nickel and phenol in levels not exceeding maximum permissible ones (up to 0.7 MPL). The reference groups included children (n = 95) and adults (n = 53) who lived on a conventionally clean territory. In the test groups, average daily exposure doses of airborne nickel and phenol varied between 0.7•10-6 and 9.3•10-6 mg/(kg•day) for children and between 3.5•10-6 and 5.0•10-5 mg/(kg•day) for adults (the doses were created by emissions from a non-ferrous metallurgy plant); this was 1.5–3.0 times higher than the same indicators in the reference groups. Levels of IgG specific to nickel were more than two times higher in the exposed groups; the exposed children had elevated levels of IgG specific to phenol in their blood, practically three times higher than in the reference group (р < 0.05). By using logistic regression models, we established a significant probabilistic cause-effect relation between elevated nickel levels in children’s blood and elevated levels of IgE-specific to nickel (R2 = 0.87; F = 468.58; р < 0.05). The assessment of the odds ratio made it possible to verify the relationship between nickel levels in blood and the increase in the level of IgE specific to nickel in children (OR = 8.96; 95% CI = 2.00–40.15) and in adults from the test group (OR = 3.12; 95 % CI = 1.10–9.40). The study results indicate that exposure to low levels of airborne nickel and phenol induces hypersensitivity to technogenic haptens in the exposed children and adults. Its distinctive features are an IgE-mediated reaction to nickel and IgG-mediated reaction to phenol. Hyperproduction of immunoglobulin E specific to nickel as well as IgG-antibodies specific to phenol in the exposed children and adults reflects levels of exposure to airborne nickel and phenol and is a peculiarity of a hyperactive immune response developing in the analyzed children on the test territory.