Triphenyl phosphate (TPP), a potential food contaminant, was fed to weanling Spartan Sprague-Dawley rats at dose levels of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0% for 120 days. The immunotoxicity evaluation, planned as a minimum testing model in a subchronic study design as well as to provide information on TPP, was performed along with the routine testing of a separate group of animals. Traditional measures were made of growth and food consumption, total protein analysis, electrophoretic analyses of serum proteins, lymphoid organ weights in relation to growth, and histopathology, with expanded immunohistochemical evaluation of B- and T- lymphocyte regions in spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes, using immunoperoxidase staining. Assessment was made of the humoral response to a T-lymphocyte-dependent antigen, sheep red blood cells, and was begun at midterm of the feeding period for the primary response followed by secondary and tertiary booster immunizations at 3-week intervals. The kinetics of the responses were measured by hemolysin assay of relative antibody titers at days 3, 4, 5, and 6 postinjection. No significant effects on the responses were noted for either sex at any of the dose levels tested. The only effects noted were a decreased rate of growth at high levels of TPP and increases in the levels of alpha- and beta-globulins suggestive of increased hepatic activity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.