Sulfur mustard (SM) is a strong toxic agent that causes acute and chronic health effects on a myriad of organs following exposure. Although the primary targets of inhaled mustard gas are the epithelia of the upper respiratory tract, the lower respiratory tract is the focus of the current study, and upper tract complications remain obscure. To our knowledge there is no study addressing the secretory IgA (S-IgA), C5a, alpha 1 antitrypsin (A1AT) in the saliva of SM-exposed victims. In this study, as many as 500 volunteers, including 372 SM-exposed cases and 128 control volunteers were recruited. A 3 ml sample of saliva was collected from each volunteer, and the level of secretory IgA, C5a, and alpha 1 antitrypsin in the samples were compared between the two groups. The SM-exposed group showed a significantly higher amount of salivary alpha 1 antitrypsin and secretary IgA compared to the control group (p<.006 and p<.018 respectively). The two groups showed no significant difference (p=0.192) in the level of C5a. The results also showed that the level of salivary A1AT is more than that of IgA in severely injured cases. The findings presented here provide valuable insight for both researchers and practitioners dealing with victims of the chemical warfare agent, sulfur mustard. This research indicates that certain branches of the inflammatory processes mandate serious attention in therapeutic interventions.
Keywords: Alpha 1 antitrypsin; C5a; IgA; Saliva; Sulfur mustard.
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