An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. I. Nonorgan and organ-specific autoantibodies

Our plain-English summary of An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. I. Nonorgan and organ-specific autoantibodies, by A. Lange (Environmental Research, 1980).

The study

• Author: A. Lange
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1980;22(1):162-75
• Cited by: 41 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in asbestos workers are significantly correlated with the symptoms of lung fibrosis. The incidence of ANA in asbestosis is not sex dependent. In nonasbestotic asbestos workers ANA are more frequently seen in females rather than in males. ANA, in asbestos workers, belong more frequently to the IgG class and these autoantibodies are found in higher titers in asbestos workers as opposed to the controls. On a group basis DNA antibodies are not significantly elevated in asbestosis. Rheumatoid factor (RF) was found with the highest frequency in male asbestotic cases. However, RF and/or smooth muscle antibody (SMA) positive cases are significantly clustered among workers with chronic sinusitis and chronic bronchitis. Non-organ-specific autoantibodies were found more frequently in those with a vital capacity impairment as opposed to asbestos workers normal in this respect. Organ-specific autoantibodies are rarely seen in asbestos workers. Moreover, except for sheep red blood cell (SRBC) antibodies in women, no correlation was found among some natural and influenza antibodies and non-organ-specific autoantibodies in asbestos workers.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This survey looked for autoantibodies (antibodies against the body's own tissues) in asbestos textile factory workers in a small rural town. Of 420 workers invited, 388 were examined (234 women and 154 men). Controls were garment factory workers from the same town without industrial asbestos exposure. The factory used chrysotile exclusively from 1953, and occasionally crocidolite from 1949 to 1952. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were more frequent in asbestos workers than in matched controls, in both age groups of women and in men over 35. ANA clustered among workers with X-ray evident asbestosis, and ANA titers were higher in asbestos workers. Among workers over 35 without X-ray-proved asbestosis, ANA were more frequent in women than in men (23 versus 9%). Rheumatoid factor and/or smooth muscle antibody were more frequent with chronic sinusitis (26 versus 7% without). They were more than twice as frequent with at least a 3-year history of chronic bronchitis as with no bronchitis symptoms. Thyroid and gastric antibodies were rare, no more frequent than in controls. The author concluded that ANA appearance is under stimuli closely connected with asbestos exposure.

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: Epidemiological survey comparing asbestos textile factory workers with matched garment factory workers
• Who was studied: 388 of 420 invited asbestos textile factory workers (234 women, 154 men), split at age 35. Controls were 177 women and 87 men employed in a garment factory in the same town, matched for age and socioeconomic status. The text does not state the country or the study dates.
• Exposure: Chrysotile was used exclusively since 1953, with occasional crocidolite from 1949 to 1952; only 36 of the studied workers were employed then. Dust ranged from 0.6 to 34 mg/m3, and most measurements did not exceed 3 mg/m3.
• Main results:
  • ANA were more frequent in asbestos workers than in matched controls in both age groups of women, but only in the older group of men.
  • ANA clustered within cases of asbestosis regardless of sex. ANA were found in 50% of cases with X-ray evident asbestosis.
  • Among asbestos workers above age 35 (the Table 2 subgroup), excluding those with X-ray-proved asbestosis, ANA were more frequent in women than in men (23 versus 9%).
  • ANA titers were higher in asbestos workers than in controls.
  • ANA in asbestos workers were more often of the IgG class than in controls (66 versus 22%).
  • Workers whose main occupational hazard was asbestos dust had a higher incidence of ANA than co-workers not directly processing asbestos fibres.
  • Rheumatoid factor was most frequent in male asbestos workers above age 35 (9%). This was not significantly different from younger asbestos workers or from controls.
  • Rheumatoid factor and/or smooth muscle antibody were more frequent in asbestos workers with chronic sinusitis than in those without it (26 versus 7%).
  • Rheumatoid factor and/or smooth muscle antibody were more than twice as frequent in asbestos workers with at least a 3-year history of chronic bronchitis as in those without symptoms.
  • Asbestos workers without non-organ-specific autoantibodies more often had normal vital capacity.
  • Thyroid and gastric parietal cell antibodies were rare in asbestos workers and no more frequent than in matched controls.
  • DNA antibodies were not significantly elevated in asbestosis on a group basis.
  • No correlation was found between natural or influenza antibodies and non-organ-specific autoantibodies, except for sheep red blood cell antibodies in women.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that ANA appearance in asbestos workers is under stimuli closely connected with asbestos exposure, and that in females it is presumably facilitated by sex-linked factors. The mechanism remains unknown.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author could not explain, from this study, why rheumatoid factor and smooth muscle antibody were associated with chronic upper airway and bronchial inflammation.
  • The mechanism of autoantibody production in asbestos workers was not established.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Fibrosis.

Related studies

• An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. II. Serum immunoglobulin levels — A. Lange (1980)
• Circulating rheumatoid and antinuclear factors in asbestos workers — M. Turner-Warwick, W.R. Parkes (1970)
• Mesothelial cell and anti-nuclear autoantibodies associated with pleural abnormalities in an asbestos exposed population of Libby MT — L.S. Marchand, S. St-Hilaire, et al. (2012)
• Association of Agricultural, Occupational, and Military Inhalants With Autoantibodies and Disease Features in US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis — A.V. Ebel, G. Lutt, et al. (2021)
• Erionite induces production of autoantibodies and IL-17 in C57BL/6 mice — C.N. Zebedeo, C. Davis, et al. (2014)
• Prevalence of anti-nuclear autoantibodies in subjects exposed to natural asbestiform fibers: a cross-sectional study — C. Ledda, R. Caltabiano, et al. (2018)

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