The neurological significance of abnormal natural killer cell

[Guest guest]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstract & list_uids=14625399

1: ScientificWorldJournal. 2003 Nov 13;3:1128-37.

The neurological significance of abnormal natural killer cell

activity in chronic toxigenic mold exposures.

Anyanwu E, AW, J, Ehiri JE, Akpan AI.

Neurosciences Research, Cahers Inc., Conroe, TX, USA.

ebereanyanwu@...

Toxigenic mold activities produce metabolites that are either broad-

spectrum antibiotics or mycotoxins that are cytotoxic. Indoor

environmental exposure to these toxigenic molds leads to adverse

health conditions with the main outcome measure of frequent

neuroimmunologic and behavioral consequences. One of the immune

system disorders found in patients presenting with toxigenic mold

exposure is an abnormal natural killer cell activity. This paper

presents an overview of the neurological significance of abnormal

natural killer cell (NKC) activity in chronic toxigenic mold

exposure. A comprehensive review of the literature was carried out

to evaluate and assess the conditions under which the immune system

could be dysfunctionally interfered with leading to abnormal NKC

activity and the involvement of mycotoxins in these processes. The

functions, mechanism, the factors that influence NKC activities, and

the roles of mycotoxins in NKCs were cited wherever necessary. The

major presentations are headache, general debilitating pains, nose

bleeding, fevers with body temperatures up to 40 degrees C (104

degrees F), cough, memory loss, depression, mood swings, sleep

disturbances, anxiety, chronic fatigue, vertigo/dizziness, and in

some cases, seizures. Although sleep is commonly considered a

restorative process that is important for the proper functioning of

the immune system, it could be disturbed by mycotoxins. Most likely,

mycotoxins exert some rigorous effects on the circadian rhythmic

processes resulting in sleep deprivation to which an acute and

transient increase in NKC activity is observed. Depression,

psychological stress, tissue injuries, malignancies, carcinogenesis,

chronic fatigue syndrome, and experimental allergic

encephalomyelitis could be induced at very low physiological

concentrations by mycotoxin-induced NKC activity. In the light of

this review, it is concluded that chronic exposures to toxigenic

mold could lead to abnormal NKC activity with a wide range of

neurological consequences, some of which were headache, general

debilitating pains, fever, cough, memory loss, depression, mood

swings, sleep disturbances, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and seizures.