Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1990-1-30
pubmed:abstractText
The former workers at the Okunojima poison gas factory (poison gas workers) are a high-risk group for malignant neoplasms and show abnormalities in cellular immunity. At the same time, poison gas workers often have chronic respiratory diseases, such as chronic bronchitis, and are highly susceptible to respiratory infections. To explore the possibility of immunological cancer prevention, we have periodically administered 200 micrograms Nocardia rubra cell-wall skeleton (N-CWS) to poison gas workers once every 3 months since December 1978. During this period, we noted a significantly lower incidence of influenza among poison gas workers receiving N-CWS than in those not receiving the drug during the influenza epidemic. This finding suggested that the administration of N-CWS enhanced the resistance of these workers to infections. Therefore, periodical administration of N-CWS to poison gas workers was considered to enhance the reduced T-cell function of normalizing antibody production by stimulating the production of B-cell-stimulatory factor (BSF). In the present study, to clarify the mechanism of immunosuppression in the poison gas workers and to examine the effects of continual administration of N-CWS on this condition, we compared the immunoglobulin production and the proliferative and differentiative activities of B-cell-stimulatory factor (BSF) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), in poison gas workers treated or not treated with N-CWS. Comparisons were also made with age-matched healthy controls. In the untreated poison gas workers, immunoglobulin and BSF production of PBMC were reduced as compared with the control group. On the other hand, in the poison gas workers receiving N-CWS, immunoglobulin and BSF production of PBMC were restored nearly to the control level. These results show that in vitro antibody production in the poison gas workers was reduced and that a reduction in BSF production of T cells was one of its causes.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0340-7004
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
30
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
190-4
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1989
pubmed:articleTitle
Effects of periodic administration of Nocardia rubra cell-wall skeleton on immunoglobulin production and B-cell-stimulatory factor activity in vitro in workers at a poison gas factory.
pubmed:affiliation
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, In Vitro