il-8 maybethe target of arsenic in humanbreast milk

Background and aims:the criticalaim of this study was to evaluate the effects of breast-milk contamination with nickel and arsenic, as well as aflatoxin m1 (afm1) on the milk levels of il-6 and il-8. materialsand methods: breast milk was collected from 76 mothers on the 30thday post-parturition and milk levels of afm1, nickel, arsenic, il-6 and il-8 were evaluated.results: the results showed 8 and 29 outof 76collected samples beingcontaminated with afm1, nickel and arsenic, respectively. levels of il-6 and il-8 in the milk samples did not differ inafm1 and nickel and arsenic contaminated milk comparedwith thenormal controls (non-contaminated milks). there was a moderate positive relation between milk levels of il-8 and arsenic.conclusions: although afm1, nickel and arsenic are the inducers of cytokine production;they are unable to induce secretion of il-6 in breast milk. arsenic can be atriggerof il-8, which is a strong chemoattract for neutrophils. thus, it appears that arsenic may induce an inflammation in milk in il-8 dependent manner.