It is well known that T-2 toxin has cytotoxic radiomimetic like effects on the immune system. Because of scant research data demonstrating the chronic effects of low doses of the T-2 toxin on humoral and cellular responses in rats, the present experiment was undertaken. The animals were divided into four groups, namely, group I (0.5 ppm), group II (0.75 ppm) and group III (1.0 ppm) and group IV (control) were given toxin-free diet for 12 weeks and eight animals each were sacrificed at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12-week of the experimental period. The humoral immune response was evaluated based on hemagglutination test (HA), and levels of serum immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, IgM) while the cell-mediated immune response was evaluated by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to ovalbumin, lymphocyte stimulation index, analyses of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T lymphocytes and mRNA expression levels of selected cytokines like IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-10 by quantitative Real-time PCR in experimental groups. T-2 treatment caused suppression in both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses as evidenced by a decrease in all these parameters in toxin fed animals compared to the control in the dose and duration-dependent manner. This dose-dependent effect on the immune system has been further reflected largely by the depletion of lymphocytes from lymphoid organs as observed histopathologically in the spleen, thymus, and Peyer’s patches in the present study.

众所周知，T-2 毒素对免疫系统具有类似细胞毒性的放射模拟作用。由于缺乏研究数据证明低剂量 T-2 毒素对大鼠体液和细胞反应的慢性影响，因此进行了本实验。将动物分为四组，即I组（0.5 ppm）、II组（0.75 ppm）和III组（1.0 ppm）和IV组（对照）给予无毒饮食12周，每组8只动物在实验期的第 2、4、6、8、10 和 12 周处死。体液免疫反应根据血凝试验（HA）和血清免疫球蛋白（IgA、IgG、IgM）水平进行评估，而细胞介导的免疫反应通过对卵清蛋白的迟发型超敏反应（DTH）反应、淋巴细胞刺激指数评估, CD4 的分析⁺和 CD8 ⁺ T 淋巴细胞以及所选细胞因子（如 IL-2、IFN-γ、IL-4 和 IL-10）的 mRNA 表达水平，通过实时定量 PCR 在实验组中进行。T-2 治疗导致体液和细胞介导的免疫反应的抑制，这可以通过剂量和持续时间依赖性方式与对照相比，毒素喂养动物的所有这些参数降低。这种对免疫系统的剂量依赖性影响在很大程度上进一步反映在淋巴器官中淋巴细胞的消耗，如本研究中在脾脏、胸腺和 Peyer 斑块中观察到的组织病理学。