Protective Effects of Apigenin and Quercetin on Aflatoxin B1-induced Immunotoxicity in Mice

This study examined the effects of quercetin and apigenin on the changes in the production of antibodies and cytokines as well as lymphocyte proliferation in aftatoxin B-1 (AFB(1))-treated mice. Serum titers of immunoglobulin (Ig) subsets, such as IgA, IgG1, and IgG2a, were changed significantly by the AFB(1) treatment. These changes were inhibited by supplementation with flavonoids. AFB(1) exposure also suppressed the secretion of cytokines, such as interferon-gamma, interleukin-4, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in splenocytes in response to lipopolysaccharide or concanavalin A. A co-treatment with apigenin suppressed more sensitively the AFB(1)-mediated alteration of cytokine secretion and DNA synthesis by splenocytes than quercetin. This study suggests that flavonoids have preventive effects against AFB(1)-mediated immunotoxicity. In particular, apigenin is more capable of chemopreventing such toxicity than quercetin.