Titanium, anyone?

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I know humans and animals are different. BUT, and that's a big BUT! If animals can have a negative reaction to titanium is it possible humans can?? I say, YES! The immune system is a very complex thing.... http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/aug/science/as_seals.html Science News – August 17, 2005 Metals disturb seals’ immune system Exposure to metals triggers hypersensitivities in harbor seals from the North Sea, according to research published on ES & T’s Research ASAP website (es0505200). These metal hypersensitivities, which were measured as an immune-system response, could lead to

other maladies and may interfere with the animals’ ability to fight off infectious diseases. GKSS Research Centre/Research And Technology Centre Westcoast (FTZ) German researchers collect blood from harbor seals. High metal concentrations in the seals’ blood are found to correlate with metal-specific hypersensitivities. “This is the first study showing that marine mammals can develop metal-specific hypersensitivities,” says Antje Kakuschke of the Institute of Coastal Research (Germany), the article’s corresponding author. She points out that, in humans, metal allergies are discussed as one possible cause of diseases such as multiple sclerosis or chronic fatigue symptom. Although the blood concentrations recorded by the researchers only

reflect the animals’ actual body burden, the resultant metal-specific sensitivities suggest chronic metal exposure, she adds. Researchers have already established that high concentrations of organic bioaccumulating compounds, such as PCBs, can cause immunosuppression in marine mammals. This immunosuppression has been linked with an increased incidence and severity of infectious diseases as well as higher mortality rates in seals and other mammals. However, information on metal interactions with the immune system is scarce. This newly discovered metal hypersensitivity, which manifests itself as a dysfunction of the animal’s immune system, could also affect an animal’s ability to cope with infections, speculates Kakuschke. She also cites unpublished results from her group showing that the lymphocytes of newborn seals are particularly susceptible to the immunotoxic effects of metals, but that response appears to reverse as the animals’ immune systems

develop. Researchers from four institutions in northern Germany took part in the harbor seal study, collecting blood from 13 live animals living in the North Sea. They find a correlation between hypersensitivity reactions and the blood concentrations of molybdenum, titanium, nickel, chromium, aluminum, lead, and tin. The reactions were detected by an assay that tracks changes in the lymphocytes. If memory lymphocytes—a type of white blood cell—were previously exposed to metals, they rapidly transformed into lymphoblasts and proliferated upon re-exposure to these same metals. Radioactively labeled thymidine incorporated into the activated lyphoblasts was used to quantify the hypersensitivity response. “This is certainly a novel study with a very interesting approach,” says Ross, a marine mammal toxicologist from the Institute of Ocean Sciences (Canada). He cautions that more samples and controls from less contaminated regions than the North

Sea are necessary before any final conclusions can be drawn. Ross also points out that metal exposure could be of greater importance in animals that are lower on the food chain, such as baleen whales or otters, because metals are often filtered out in the food chain. “The key question is whether this is a normal baseline reaction or a response to an elevated level of metals caused by human pollution,” Ross says. Some animals have developed physiological processes to respond to high metal concentrations that are found naturally in their diet, but added pollution could overwhelm the creatures’ ability to cope, he says. Validating their results with animals from uncontaminated regions is on their agenda, says Kakuschke. Nevertheless, she feels that their approach, which combines monitoring contaminants in live animals with studying their effects on the animals’ immune systems, should also prove useful for investigating other compounds, such as PCBs. —ANKE SCHAEFER

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