Effects of aflatoxin G1 on proliferation and TNF-αsecretion of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro

AIM: To explore the effects of aflatoxin G₁(AFG₁ )on proliferation and TNF-α secretion of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells(HPBM) in vitro. METHODS: The effects of AFG₁ on proliferation of HPBM were analysed with flow cytometric (FCM) DNA analysis and MTT bioassay, while that on TNF-α secretion was detected with ELISA.RESULTS: FCM analysis revealed that 6 h after treatment, proliferation index(PI) of 1000 μg/L AFG₁ treated HPBM was significantly higher than that of control. 24 h after AFG₁ treatment, stimulating effects on proliferation was found in HPBM treated with AFG₁ at 200 μg/L and 1 000μg/L.Regression analysis showed that PI was postively correlated with the concentrations of AFG₁ in the concentration range from 0 to 1 000μg/L( r=0. 5122 and 0.5119 respectively,P＜0.05).MTT bioassay showed that the A value of the cells treated with AFG₁ at 2 000 μg/L was higher than that of the control. Double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results showed that AFG₁ at a dose of 100 μg/L could significantly inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced TNF-α secretion.CONCLUSION: AFG₁ could stimulate the proliferation of HPBM and could decrease TNF-α secretion at certain concentration.