An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. II. Serum immunoglobulin levels

Our plain-English summary of An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. II. Serum immunoglobulin levels, by A. Lange (Environmental Research, 1980).

The study

• Author: A. Lange
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1980;22(1):176-83
• Cited by: 38 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A significant elevation of serum IgA and IgG was found in female asbestos workers below age 36. Higher values of serum IgA, IgG, and IgM were found in male asbestos workers over age 35, when compared to matched controls. Female asbestos workers, over age 35, statistically differ from their controls only with respect to IgG levels. Patients, with asbestosis and with an impairment of blood oxygen saturation, contribute greatly to the elevation of serum immunoglobulin levels in asbestos workers. The asbestosis process, but not chronic bronchitis, is responsible for high serum IgA and IgG levels.

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

In plain English

This paper, the second part of a survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers, compared serum immunoglobulin (antibody) levels in asbestos factory employees with matched controls. It related those levels to signs of asbestos-induced lung fibrosis. Female workers under age 36 had significantly higher IgA and IgG than matched controls; male workers in that age group did not. Male workers over 35 had higher IgA, IgG and IgM than controls, and this was still significant after workers with asbestosis were excluded. Female workers over 35 differed significantly from controls only in IgG, and this difference lost significance when workers with asbestosis or antinuclear antibodies were excluded. Among workers over 35, those with X-ray asbestosis had slightly higher IgA and IgG than those without, significant only for IgA in men. Workers with impaired blood oxygen saturation had higher IgA and IgG, significant only compared with controls. A long history of chronic bronchitis went with lower IgA and IgG, and smoking was not significantly correlated with immunoglobulin levels. The author concluded that the elevation in asbestosis reflects the lung disease process locally stimulating humoral immunity.

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 (cross-sectional) survey comparing serum immunoglobulin levels in asbestos workers with matched controls, and relating them to signs of lung fibrosis
• Who was studied: Male and female asbestos factory employees under age 36 and over age 35, plus age- and sex-matched controls. Details of the groups are given in a companion paper (Lange, 1980); group sizes in this article's tables are not reliably readable.
• Exposure: Employment in an asbestos factory; fiber types and doses are not stated in this article
• Main results:
  • Female asbestos workers under age 36 had significantly higher IgA and IgG than matched controls; no such difference was found in males under 36
  • Male asbestos workers over age 35 had higher IgA, IgG and IgM than matched controls
  • In male asbestos workers over 35, IgA, IgG and IgM remained significantly higher than controls even when workers with asbestosis were excluded
  • Female asbestos workers over 35 differed significantly from controls only in IgG
  • In female workers over 35, the difference from controls lost significance when workers with antinuclear antibodies (ANA) or asbestosis were excluded
  • Among workers over 35, those with X-ray proved asbestosis had slightly higher IgA and IgG than those without; this was statistically significant only for IgA in men
  • No significant correlation was found between asbestosis and IgM or IgD levels
  • Asbestos workers with impaired blood oxygen saturation had higher IgA and IgG than workers with normal saturation and than controls; the difference was statistically significant only compared with controls
  • Asbestos workers with a long history of chronic bronchitis had lower IgG and IgA than those without chronic bronchitis or with a short history of it
  • Cigarette smoking was not significantly correlated with serum immunoglobulin levels
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the elevation of serum immunoglobulins in asbestosis is due to the asbestos-induced disease process in the lungs locally stimulating humoral immunity, and that the asbestosis process, not chronic bronchitis, is mainly responsible for high IgA and IgG
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The difference between female workers with and without asbestosis was not significant, possibly because few cases were studied

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Oxygen Saturation.

Related studies

• An epidemiological survey of immunological abnormalities in asbestos workers. I. Nonorgan and organ-specific autoantibodies — A. Lange (1980)
• High serum immunoglobulin G4-related retrosternal fibrosclerosis — K. Kamiya, A. Yoshizu, et al. (2012)
• Seroprevalence of West Nile Virus specific IgG and IgM antibodies in North-Western and Western provinces of Zambia — I. Mweene-Ndumba, S. Siziya, et al. (2015)
• IgG and IgA enhance the chrysotile-induced production of reactive oxygen metabolites by human polymorphonuclear leucocytes — M. Klockars, M. Hedenborg, et al. (1989)
• Immune response in shipyard workers with x ray abnormalities consistent with asbestos exposure — H. Anton-Culver, B.D. Culver, et al. (1988)
• 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)

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