An immunohistochemical study of dibutyltin-induced thymus atrophy.

Abstract

Di-n-butyltin dichloride (DBTC) has been shown to be immunotoxic to rats. After feeding DBTC for several weeks, thymus and spleen weights were markedly reduced. As a consequence T cell-dependent immune responses were suppressed (Seinen et al 1979). Thymus atrophy seems to be caused by a direct action of the tin compound since it was not stress-mediated (Penninks et al 1985) and the number and viability of bone marrow cells were not affected (Seinen et al 1979). A single oral dose of DBTC also caused a marked reduction of thymus weights, which was maximal 4 days after dosing. Histologically, thymus weight reduction was associated with a severe loss of cortical thymus lymphocytes. Initially, DBTC diminished the number of large thymocytes in the first 2 days after exposure. Subsequently, the intermediate and small cells decreased in number at day 3 and 4 after exposure. It was concluded from these findings that DBTC-induced thymus atrophy is caused by reduction in the number of large thymic lymphocytes (Snoeij et al 1988 a). In this study, immunohistochemical methods are used to further characterize the DBTC-induced thymus atrophy.KeywordsSingle Oral DoseMajor Histocompatibility Complex AntigenThymus AtrophyThymus WeightMedullary AreaThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.