Immuno-toxicology and -pharmacology

Abstract

1. The new field of immunotoxicology may be expected to gain considerable importance in the assessment of possible toxic risks of chemicals. It is an applied science based on the considerable experience gained in basic immunological research within the last decades. 2. Some possibilities are discussed and procedures suggested for evaluating toxic effects induced by chemicals (including drugs) in experimental animals and man. 3. Original data are presented on thymus atrophy induced in the offspring of rats treated on day 10 of pregnancy with the virostatic drug acyclovir. 4. Experimental data are presented on the effect of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on the distribution of lymphocyte populations (peripheral blood) in primates in vivo and in vitro, as determined with monoclonal antibodies as probes.