The use of a petroleum-derived cleaning solvent for dry cleaning, instead of tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE), has increased. The cleaning solvent may induce immunological alteration. In this study, murine macrophage-lineage J774.1 cells were exposed to the cleaning solvent at 0, 25, 50, and 75 µg/ml or PCE at 0, 400, 600, 800, and 1,000 µg/ml by vigorous vortexing. Cell viability was determined. The mRNA expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p40 (a dimer of IL-12), and IL-27p28 (a dimer of IL-27) were evaluated by real-time PCR. The mean viabilities in the 50 and 75 µg/ml groups of the cleaning solvent were significantly lower than that of the control. The mean mRNA expressions of TNF-α and IL-1β in the 50 µg/ml group were significantly higher than those in the control. For PCE, the mean viabilities at 600 µg/ml and over were significantly lower than that of the control. The mean expressions of IL-6 and IL-10 in the 800 µg/ml group were significantly higher than that in the control. The productions of IL-1β and TNF-α may be altered in human during intoxication of the cleaning solvent as well as those of IL-6 and IL-10 in human during that of PCE, and these may affect on immune cells.

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