Effects of boron on the proliferation, apoptosis and immune function of splenic lymphocytes through ERα and ERβ

Abstract

This experiment aimed to investigate the role of ERα and ERβ in boron's effect on splenic lymphocyte of rat. After inhibition of ERα and ERβ using MPP and PHTPP, the effects of 0.4 mmol/L boron on the splenic CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio, lymphocyte proliferation rate, IFN-γ concentration and PCNA protein expression disappeared. Furthermore, after inhibiting ERβ with PHTPP alone, the decreasing effects of 40 mmol/L boron on the splenic CD8+ T-cell proportion, lymphocyte proliferation rate, the concentrations of IgG and cytokines, as well as the expression of Bcl-2 also disappeared. However, when ERα was inhibited by MPP alone, the effect of 40 mmol/L boron on splenic lymphocyte was unchanged. The results suggest that ERα mainly mediate the effects of low-dose boron (0.4 mmol/L) on splenic T-cell subsets, lymphocyte proliferation and apoptosis, and immune function, while ERβ may mediate the effects of both low-dose and high-dose boron (40 mmol/L) on splenic lymphocytes.