Allergic disease, immunoglobulins, exposure to mercury and dental amalgam in Swedish adolescents
(1997) In International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 69(5). p.339-342- Abstract
- High-dose exposure to inorganic mercury in man can influence the immune system and in rare cases cause immune-related disease. Some experimental animals also react with autoimmunity after low doses of inorganic mercury. Glomerulonephritis and an increased formation of immunoglobulin type E (IgE) are characteristic of these reactions. A recent study of 15-year-old adolescents demonstrated an association between immunoglobulin type A (IgA) and mercury concentration in plasma (P-Hg). There was also an association between allergic disease and IgA levels. The present study included 54 male and 23 female 19-year-old students who were recruited from a cohort that had been previously defined in a survey of allergic disease. Of the students, 39... (More)
- High-dose exposure to inorganic mercury in man can influence the immune system and in rare cases cause immune-related disease. Some experimental animals also react with autoimmunity after low doses of inorganic mercury. Glomerulonephritis and an increased formation of immunoglobulin type E (IgE) are characteristic of these reactions. A recent study of 15-year-old adolescents demonstrated an association between immunoglobulin type A (IgA) and mercury concentration in plasma (P-Hg). There was also an association between allergic disease and IgA levels. The present study included 54 male and 23 female 19-year-old students who were recruited from a cohort that had been previously defined in a survey of allergic disease. Of the students, 39 (51%) had asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis or eczema. Similar amalgam burden and P-Hg levels were observed in students with (n = 39) and without (n = 38) allergic disease (P = 0.48 and P = 0.98, respectively). As expected, IgE levels were significantly higher in the group with allergic disease (P = 0.006), but there was no association between P-Hg and IgE. The P-Hg levels were very low (median 1.50 nmol/l) and correlated significantly (r = 0.31) with the small number of amalgam surfaces (P = 0.007). Thirty-seven students had no amalgam fillings. P-Hg levels did not associate significantly with IgA, but did so with IgG2 (r = 0.33; P = 0.003). No conclusive correlation was observed between IgG2 and amalgam fillings. The findings of this study in 19-year-old subjects differ from earlier data obtained in a sample 4 years younger. The possibility of chance in the association between P-Hg levels and IgG2 must, however, be considered. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1112266
- author
- Herrstrom, P ; Hogstedt, B ; Holthuis, N ; Schutz, Andrejs and Råstam, Lennart LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 1997
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Adolescents, Allergy, Dental amalgam, Immunoglobulin, Mercury
- in
- International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
- volume
- 69
- issue
- 5
- pages
- 339 - 342
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:9192218
- scopus:0030919017
- ISSN
- 1432-1246
- DOI
- 10.1007/s004200050157
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bd5cca61-46b1-4340-86ce-950a69582625 (old id 1112266)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:23:07
- date last changed
- 2022-03-22 04:12:19
@article{bd5cca61-46b1-4340-86ce-950a69582625,
abstract = {{High-dose exposure to inorganic mercury in man can influence the immune system and in rare cases cause immune-related disease. Some experimental animals also react with autoimmunity after low doses of inorganic mercury. Glomerulonephritis and an increased formation of immunoglobulin type E (IgE) are characteristic of these reactions. A recent study of 15-year-old adolescents demonstrated an association between immunoglobulin type A (IgA) and mercury concentration in plasma (P-Hg). There was also an association between allergic disease and IgA levels. The present study included 54 male and 23 female 19-year-old students who were recruited from a cohort that had been previously defined in a survey of allergic disease. Of the students, 39 (51%) had asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis or eczema. Similar amalgam burden and P-Hg levels were observed in students with (n = 39) and without (n = 38) allergic disease (P = 0.48 and P = 0.98, respectively). As expected, IgE levels were significantly higher in the group with allergic disease (P = 0.006), but there was no association between P-Hg and IgE. The P-Hg levels were very low (median 1.50 nmol/l) and correlated significantly (r = 0.31) with the small number of amalgam surfaces (P = 0.007). Thirty-seven students had no amalgam fillings. P-Hg levels did not associate significantly with IgA, but did so with IgG2 (r = 0.33; P = 0.003). No conclusive correlation was observed between IgG2 and amalgam fillings. The findings of this study in 19-year-old subjects differ from earlier data obtained in a sample 4 years younger. The possibility of chance in the association between P-Hg levels and IgG2 must, however, be considered.}},
author = {{Herrstrom, P and Hogstedt, B and Holthuis, N and Schutz, Andrejs and Råstam, Lennart}},
issn = {{1432-1246}},
keywords = {{Adolescents; Allergy; Dental amalgam; Immunoglobulin; Mercury}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{339--342}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health}},
title = {{Allergic disease, immunoglobulins, exposure to mercury and dental amalgam in Swedish adolescents}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004200050157}},
doi = {{10.1007/s004200050157}},
volume = {{69}},
year = {{1997}},
}