The etiologies of autoimmune diseases continue to be a mystery and the subject of intensive study. However, evidence based on mouse models suggests that exposure to environmental toxins can trigger diseases of this nature. Adult and gestational exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent commonly used commercially as a degreaser, has been shown in previous research to trigger an the onset of autoimmunity. Our study attempted to ascertain how gestational exposure in autoimmune prone mice (both the mother and her pups) differentially affects them and leads to onset of autoimmunity. Numerous data points were collected using flow cytometry and biochemical assays and these data were subjected to analyses. In order to better understand the data collected, an additional method of analyzing the data was developed. Analysis of the data collected showed very few significant differences in the means of the groups. As a result, the use of correlation coefficients was incorporated into the analyses of these data. The way in which this was done was by studying the correlations within the different groups and how the correlations changed with respect to their exposure to TCE. Numerous points of interest for further research into the effects of TCE on the onset of autoimmunity have been uncovered using the aforementioned method of analysis. These analyses of correlations have additionally been used to compare the gestational effects of TCE on the dams and the pups.

Analyzing the effects gestational exposure to trichloroethylene on the development of autoimmune disease

251st National Meeting (2016)

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