Chronic exposure to arsenic sensitizes CD3+ and CD56+ human cells to sodium arsenite-mediated apoptosis.

Despite the relevance of immune responses in cancer development, little is known about arsenite-induced apoptosis on different immune effectors cells. In this work, we determined the effect of in vitro exposure to sodium arsenite on apoptosis rates of blood lymphocytes, monocytes and NK cells. Blood was obtained from six healthy non-exposed donors, and also from a woman chronically exposed to arsenic.