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Infect Immun. 1974 December; 10(6): 1226-1229
Copyright © 1974 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cigarette Smoking, Air Pollution, and Immunity: a Model System

Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, Perth Medical Centre, Shenton Park 6008, Western Australia

ABSTRACT

BALB/c mice were exposed to fresh cigarette smoke, a mixture of SO₂ (5 ppm) and CO (50 ppm), or both for periods up to 18 weeks. After varying exposure times, animals were intratracheally inoculated with 10⁸ sheep erythrocytes and sacrificed 7 days later, during which time the various exposure regimes were continued. Plaque-forming-cell responses were measured in spleens and a pool of the cervical and mediastinal lymph nodes, together with serum hemagglutinating and hemolytic responses, and compared with those of age-matched control animals. Both the organ and serum responses exhibited stimulation in the early phase of exposure, before a depression with prolonged exposure. The greatest depression was seen in animals that had been chronically exposed to both fresh cigarette smoke and the gas mixture.