Abstract
Endemic arsenic exposure emerged as a global public health problem affecting millions of people worldwide because of its association with various cancers and numerous other pathological effects. Increasing lines of research indicate that arsenic may adversely affect the immune system, but its specific target to impair immune function is poorly understood. While inorganic arsenicals arsenite and arsenate showed strong cytotoxicity to both macrophages and lymphocytes, arsenic trioxide has important antitumor properties. Arsenic can have significant effects on blood leukocytes and many aspects of the immune system including impaired T-cell activation, altered expression of cytokines such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and GM-CSF, suppression of contact hypersensitivity responses, loss of adhesion, impairment of function, morphologic changes in human macrophages, and the humoral immune response. Arsenic induces overexpression of keratinocyte-derived growth factors, which are likely to have a significant role in arsenic-induced skin hyperkeratoses and cancer. The immunotoxic effects of arsenic exposure have been evaluated in this chapter.
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