ABSTRACT
It has been suggested that occupational exposure to quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) may promote the development of allergic airway diseases. In this study, hazard identifications of the adjuvant effect of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA), hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTA), and tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA) were performed in a screening bioassay. Female BALB/c mice were injected subcutaneously with the model allergen ovalbumin (OVA) alone or together with different quantities of one of the QAC test compounds. After one or two boosters, levels of OVA-specific IgE, IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies were measured in sera. CPC and DDA increased IgE and IgG1 antibody production, respectively, compared to the OVA control group, whereas HTA and TEA showed no adjuvant effect. Nevertheless, when TEA was given in combination with DDA, the adjuvant effect was up to six-fold higher than the adjuvant effect of DDA alone. Only DDA had a statistically significant adjuvant effect on IgG2a antibody levels.
Subject(s)
Adjuvants, Immunologic/toxicity , Quaternary Ammonium Compounds/toxicity , Animals , Biological Assay , Body Weight/drug effects , Cetrimonium , Cetrimonium Compounds/toxicity , Cetylpyridinium/immunology , Cetylpyridinium/toxicity , Disease Models, Animal , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Combinations , Female , Immunoglobulins/analysis , Immunoglobulins/immunology , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Ovalbumin/immunology , Quaternary Ammonium Compounds/immunology , Structure-Activity Relationship , Tetraethylammonium/immunology , Tetraethylammonium/toxicityABSTRACT
The immunogenic properties of the soluble complexes of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and synthetic polyelectrolytes were studied. The polyelectrolytes used in these complexes were 4-vinyl-N-ethylpyridinium bromide and 4-vinyl-N-cetylpyridinium bromide (complex I), 4-vinylpyridine and 4-vinyl-N-acetylpyridinium bromide (complex II). C57BL mice were immunized with different doses of BSA, complexes I and II introduced intraperitoneally in a single injection, and the number of plaque-forming cells (PFC) in the spleen was determined by modified Jerne's test with the use of BSA-covered sheep red blood cells. The above complexes were shown to stimulate the production of PFC against BSA 50-100 times more intensively than pure BSA. The mixtures of BSA with the above-mentioned polyelectrolytes stimulated PFC production to a considerably lesser extent. Thus, the polymeric part of these conjugates was not an antigen, but served as a carrier inducing pronounced immune response to the antigenic (protein) part of the complex.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿
