AEGiS-GMHC: TREATMENT BRIEFS: Poppers and the Immune System

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1994. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

TREATMENT BRIEFS: Poppers and the Immune System

Gay Men's Health Crisis: Treatment Issues, Volume 8 no. 4 - June 1994
David Gold

Isobutyl nitrite inhalers or "poppers" can reduce the functional ability of T-cells in mice, according to a researcher from the University of Arkansas (Toxicology Letters, February 15, 1994; 70:319-29). Mice in the study were exposed to three doses of isobutyl nitrite (900 parts per million, 600 ppm and 300 ppm) for 45 minutes a day for fourteen days. By comparison, one of the leading "popper" products, "Probe," releases over 1,500 ppm of isobutyl nitrate.

The study found that mice given the two higher doses had T- cell mediated responses that were reduced by 37 percent. However, three days after the last exposure to isobutyl nitrate, T-cell functions returned to normal. In a conversation with Treatment Issues, the lead investigator of the study, Dr. Lee Soderberg, concluded that the reduction in T-cell functioning in mice after exposure to isobutyl nitrate was statistically significant, but reversible. He also noted that the mice exposed to isobutyl nitrate showed reduced tumor killing capabilities which returned to normal levels more slowly than T-cell functioning.

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