A rapid and simple method of extracting asbestos bodies from lung tissue by cytocentrifugation

Our plain-English summary of A rapid and simple method of extracting asbestos bodies from lung tissue by cytocentrifugation, by A. Ehrlich, Y. Suzuki (American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1987).

The study

• Authors: A. Ehrlich, Y. Suzuki
• Journal: American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1987;11(1):109-16
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

During analyses of alkali digested lung tissue for asbestos bodies, we observed that the number of asbestos bodies in the discarded waste frequently exceeded the number in the filtered residue, the number reported in the standard diagnostic method. This observation led to the exploration of alternative techniques that would optimize the recovery of asbestos bodies. We describe a new, simple, and rapid method for extracting asbestos bodies from digested lung tissue using a cytocentrifuge, in which the waste extraction and filtration steps are eliminated. Samples of digested lung tissue are ready for light microscopy after 10 minutes of cytocentrifugation directly onto a glass slide. The standard method was compared with the cytocentrifuge technique using lung tissue from four asbestos-exposed workers and four controls with no known history of exposure. The number of asbestos bodies extracted by the centrifuge method was, on average, seven times higher than the number found with the standard method. A detailed quantitative study was made of the case that had the most asbestos bodies (comparison of the number of asbestos bodies counted in both "residue" and "waste", applying the filtration and cytocentrifuge methods). The number of asbestos bodies found in the discarded waste significantly exceeded the number in the "reportable" filtered residue.

In plain English

This was a laboratory methods study. The authors compared the standard way of extracting asbestos bodies from digested lung tissue (chloroform-alcohol extraction followed by membrane filtration) with a new method that spins the digest directly onto a glass slide in a cytocentrifuge. They used formalin-fixed lung tissue from necropsies of four asbestos-exposed workers and four people with no known asbestos exposure. The authors did not identify fiber types in their lung samples. The most detailed analysis was of one exposed worker (Case 4). In that case the filtered residue, which is the number the standard method reports, averaged 928 asbestos bodies per gram of wet lung. The normally discarded waste held 3,492 per gram, almost four times more. Cytocentrifugation yielded an average of 7,250 per gram, about seven times the 928. The authors reported that across the cases the waste was frequently higher than the residue. They concluded that the standard method may discard about 80% of asbestos bodies. They noted that the new method's slide was ready for light microscopy after a 10-minute cytocentrifuge spin, compared with about 50 minutes for the standard method.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory methods comparison: a new cytocentrifugation technique versus the standard chloroform-alcohol extraction and membrane filtration method (Smith and Naylor, 1972) for counting asbestos bodies in digested lung tissue
• Who was studied: Formalin-fixed lung tissue from necropsies of four asbestos-exposed workers and four adults of the general population with no known asbestos exposure. Each digest used 5 gm of wet lung. One exposed worker (Case 4) was analysed in detail. The article does not state the place or dates of the necropsies.
• Exposure: Asbestos-exposed workers compared with people with no known asbestos exposure. The authors do not identify the fiber types, jobs or doses for the lung samples they examined.
• Main results:
  • Case 4: the filtered residue (the number the standard method would report) averaged 928 asbestos bodies per gram of wet lung
  • Case 4: the filtered chloroform-alcohol waste, which is normally discarded, yielded an average of 3,492 asbestos bodies per gram, almost four times the reportable residue number
  • Case 4: cytocentrifugation yielded an average of 7,250 asbestos bodies per gram of lung tissue, about seven times the 928 per gram in the filtered residue
  • Case 4: with cytocentrifugation, about 80% of the asbestos bodies were in the waste fraction that the standard method discards
  • Across the cases studied, the number of asbestos bodies in the discarded waste was frequently higher than the number in the residue
  • With the new method, the sediment on the slide was ready for light microscopy after 10 minutes of cytocentrifugation, compared with about 50 minutes for the standard method
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the standard chloroform-alcohol extraction and filtration method may discard about 80% of the asbestos bodies in a lung digest. They concluded that cytocentrifugation was more accurate, simpler and faster. They also suggested that the proposed general-population range of 4 to 40 asbestos bodies per gram, which was based on the standard method, may have to be revised.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Bodies.

Related studies

• A method for extracting ferruginous bodies from sputum and pulmonary tissue — M.J. Smith, B. Naylor (1972)
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• Fibrous dust particles and ferruginous bodies. Methods for quantitating them and some results from the lungs of city dwellers — P. Gross, J. Tuma, et al. (1970)
• A procedure for the isolation of amosite asbestos and ferruginous bodies from lung tissue and sputum — M.G. Williams, R.F. Dodson, et al. (1982)
• Contributions to the optimal use of human blood. V. A method to increase the yield of anti-D immunoglobulin by processing Cohn's fraction III — E.F. Vogelaar, M.A. Boer-v d Berg, et al. (1974)
• Method for removing the ferruginous coating from asbestos bodies — R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, et al. (1983)

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