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IMMUNE RESPONSES IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS EXPOSED TO DIBUTYLTIN DICHLORIDE IN DRINKING WATER AS ADULTS
Citation:
DEWITT, J., C. B. COPELAND, AND R. W. LUEBKE. IMMUNE RESPONSES IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS EXPOSED TO DIBUTYLTIN DICHLORIDE IN DRINKING WATER AS ADULTS. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY. Taylor & Francis, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, 2:151-160, (2005).
Impact/Purpose:
to evaluate immunotoxic effects of organotins
Description:
Organotins are used commercially as agricultural pesticides, antifouling agents and stabilizers for
polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe. Mono- and di-substituted methyl and butyltins, used in PVC
pipe production, are of concern as they leach from supply pipes into drinking water and have
been reported to cause multisystem toxicity, including immunotoxicity. As part of an ongoing
study to evaluate immunotoxic effects of organotins, we assessed immune function in adult
Sprague-Dawley (CD) rats after exposure to dibutyltin dichloride (DBTC). Individually housed
adult male and female CD rats were given drinking water containing 0, 10 or 25 mg DBTC/L
(final concentration) in 0.5% Alkamuls for 28 days. Water bottles were changed and water
consumption was monitored twice weekly and body weights (BW) were recorded weekly.
Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), primary and secondary antibody responses to sheep red
blood cells, and natural killer (NK) cell activity were evaluated in separate groups of treated and
control animals on day 29 of exposure. Water consumption was significantly decreased in both
sexes at 25 mg DBTC/L. BW, immune organ weights, the DTH response, and NK cell activity
did not vary by dose. Different results for antibody responses in male rats were obtained in two
experimental replicates. In the first replicate, IgG was elevated at the highest dose whereas in
the second replicate, IgM was suppressed. However, as these effects occurred at the high dose of
25 mg DBTC/L, which is a concentration a million times higher than levels of DBTC reported in
drinking water, our data suggest that DBTC is unlikely to cause immunotoxicity at
concentrations found in drinking water supplies.