Immunomodulatory Studies of Dietary Consumption of Halogenated Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contaminated Great Lakes Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch)

Abstract

<p>Diets containing coho salmon from the Pacific Ocean and Lakes Erie, Michigan and Ontario were fed to C57B1/6 and DBA/2 mice, Fischer CD rats and rainbow trout. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed a gradient of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) in tissues of coho salmon from Lakes Erie, Michigan and Ontario and bioaccumulated levels in livers of C57B1/6 and DBA/2 mice. The toxicity parameters of hepatomegally, mixed function oxidase enzyme induction and hypothyroidism in mice correlated with elevated HAH concentrations in dietary salmon. Following consumption of coho salmon from Lake Ontario, plaque forming cell responses were reduced in C57B1/6 mice and increased in rats, whereas cell mediated immune responses remained relatively unaffected in rodents. Regulatory T--Iymphocyte subset numbers in mice were not altered by dietary exposure to HAH contaminated coho salmon. Humoral immune responses, natural killer cell activity and host resistance in rainbow trout were not altered following dietary exposure to Great Lakes coho salmon or HAHs.</p>