The effect of ozone on human cellular and humoral immunity: characterization of T and B lymphocytes by rosette formation.

Eight healthy male subjects were exposed to 784 μg/m³ (0.4 ppm) of ozone for 4 hours in an environmentally controlled exposure chamber. Peripheral blood samples were taken before and after air and ozone exposures and again at 72 hours and 2 weeks. These blood samples were examined for the percentages of rosette-forming T and B lymphocytes. No statistically significant depressions in T-lymphocyte rosette formation with sheep erythrocytes were found following exposure to air or ozone. The ability of B lymphocytes to form rosettes with sensitized human erythrocytes was depressed following ozone exposure. These results suggest that surface receptors and/or the cell membranes of peripheral blood B lymphocytes may be temporarily altered following short-term exposure to ozone.