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 B₁ (AFB₁)-treated mice. Serum titers of immunoglobulin (Ig) subsets, such as IgA, IgG1, and IgG2a, were changed significantly by the AFB₁ treatment. These changes were inhibited by supplementation with flavonoids. AFB₁ exposure also suppressed the secretion of cytokines, such as interferon-γ, interleukin-4, and tumor necrosis factor-α, in splenocytes in response to lipopolysaccharide or concanavalin A. A co-treatment with apigenin suppressed more sensitively the AFB₁-mediated alteration of cytokine secretion and DNA synthesis by splenocytes than quercetin. This study suggests that flavonoids have preventive effects against AFB₁-mediated immunotoxicity. In particular, apigenin is more capable of chemopreventing such toxicity than quercetin.