Study of apoptosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chemical victim 25 years after exposed with mustard gas

Mustard gas(SM) is a Chemical Weapon that used by Iraqi army against Iranian military and civilian forces in Iraq-Iran war. SM absorbed by respiratory system, skin and eyes. The early complications occur at first week and long term complications occur at 10-15 years later. In our country chemical victims are suffering from mustard gas induced long term complications. SM is a highly reactive chemical, which reacts with nearly all cell constituents.DNA damage is believed to be the most critical lesion. SMmade some adduct in the DNA that leads to DNA break.. Broken DNA, PARP-1 enzymatic activity leads to with regard to the extent of the damage could result in damage repair, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis or necrosis. the aim of this study is the evaluation of apoptosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in SM exposed individuals over than 25 years after exposure. at this study10 exposed and 11 non-exposed participats were recruited. Peripheral blood samples were collected by ficol gradiant and PBMC was isolated, conted and their apoptosis was determined by cell death detection ELISA kit. the result show no significant differences in apoptosis between SM exposed PBMC and normal control group.P-value =0/39. Conclution: According to the results, there were no significant differences between two groups. It seemsapoptosis doesn’t accure long term after SM exposure in PBMC. Since some organs such as loung, eyes,and skin are injured, more studies in affected organs is suggested.