ToxSci Advance Access originally published online on May 12, 2004
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Toxicological Sciences 79, 211-213 (2004)
Toxicological Sciences vol. 79 no. 2 © Society of Toxicology; all rights reserved.
2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and Long Term Immunologic Memory
Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street (R-408), Boston, Massachusetts 02118
Received April 5, 2004; accepted April 6, 2004
The highlighted article by B. Paige Lawrence and Beth Vorderstrasse addresses an oft forgotten aspect of immunotoxicity, the effects of environmental toxins on immunologic memory. Here, the authors take a step towards filling that information gap by evaluating the effects of a prototypic environmental toxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), on memory responses to a real-world pathogen, influenza A virus, presented to an animal model in a physiologically relevant manner. Multiple outcomes are evaluated, the vast majority of which suggest important and long-term TCDD-induced changes in the immune system after both primary and secondary exposure to this pathogen. The implications of these studies with regard to the immuno-competence of TCDD-exposed individuals are far reaching.