Asbestos fibers, plasma and inflammation

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos fibers, plasma and inflammation, by J.A. Hamilton (Environmental Health Perspectives, 1983).

The study

• Author: J.A. Hamilton
• Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives
• Published: 1983;51:281-5
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Fibrin clots have been detected at sites of inflammation, and kinins have been implicated as mediators of the vascular phenomena of acute inflammation, systemic shock, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. It is now reported that both negatively and positively charged asbestos fibers shorten the partial thromboplastin time of human plasma, indicating coagulation of the plasma. A sample containing short (less than 5 micron in length) chrysotile fibers is ineffective. Only the negatively charged amphiboles (crocidolite and amosite) are able to activate factor XII (Hageman factor). This particular effect of the amphiboles is enhanced by high molecular weight kininogen and leads to kinin formation.

In plain English

This was a laboratory study. No people were exposed. The author tested in test tubes how asbestos fibers react with human blood plasma. The fibers were IARC crocidolite, IARC amosite, IARC chrysotile A and B, and a Calidria chrysotile sample in which about 95% of fibers were shorter than 5 micrometres. In a clotting test called the partial thromboplastin time, plasma with buffer alone clotted in 234 seconds. With crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile A and chrysotile B it clotted in 60, 61, 69 and 104 seconds, comparable to the control materials quartz (67) and kaolin (57). The short-fiber Calidria chrysotile took 357 seconds. These clotting figures came from an earlier paper by the author and colleagues. Only amosite and crocidolite, described as negatively charged, activated the clotting protein factor XII to produce the enzyme kallikrein. The chrysotile samples did not. Crocidolite produced kinins, substances linked to inflammation, from normal plasma but not from plasma lacking factor XII or high molecular weight kininogen. The author proposed that these findings might be relevant to inflammation associated with asbestosis.

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 (in vitro) experiments: plasma clotting tests, factor XII activation tests with purified proteins, and a kinin bioassay using rat uterus tissue
• Who was studied: Asbestos fiber samples (IARC crocidolite, IARC amosite, IARC chrysotile A and B, Calidria chrysotile) tested against normal human plasma from the Canadian Red Cross, purified clotting proteins, factor XII-deficient plasma (Hird) and HMW kininogen-deficient plasma (Williams). Uterus tissue from virgin albino female rats was used for the kinin bioassay.
• Exposure: Fiber suspensions at 10 mg/mL of crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile (including a short-fiber Calidria chrysotile sample). Kaolin, quartz and buffer were used as comparisons.
• Main results:
  • Clotting time of normal human plasma: IARC crocidolite 60 sec, IARC amosite 61 sec, IARC chrysotile A 69 sec, IARC chrysotile B 104 sec, Calidria chrysotile 357 sec, quartz 67 sec, kaolin 57 sec, buffer 234 sec (data from Hamilton et al., ref. 8)
  • Both the negatively charged amphiboles and the positively charged IARC chrysotiles shortened clotting time, comparable to kaolin and quartz
  • The Calidria chrysotile sample, with about 95% of fibers under 5 micrometres long, had minimal effect on clotting time
  • Only amosite and crocidolite activated factor XII, in the presence of HMW kininogen, to generate kallikrein. This was similar to kaolin and quartz.
  • Crocidolite generated kinin from normal human plasma but not from factor XII-deficient or HMW kininogen-deficient plasma. Maximum kinin generation was reached after 5 minutes' incubation.
• The authors' conclusion: The author proposed that the findings might be relevant to the inflammatory processes associated with asbestosis
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author found the clotting effect of positively charged chrysotile surprising and suggested another coagulation pathway might be involved, which was not established
  • Whether chrysotile can generate kinins was not tested; the author noted this remained of interest

Mines named here

Asbestos mines this study is about. Each mine's page says who ran it, when it worked, and what it produced.

• Santa Rita mine, Joaquin Ridge near Coalinga, California

All asbestos mines

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Inflammation, Chrysotile, Amphibole Group, Crocidolite, Amosite.

Related studies

• Coagulation of human plasma by asbestos fibers — J.A. Hamilton, J.Y. Chan, et al. (1981)
• Biopersistent fiber-induced inflammation and carcinogenesis: lessons learned from asbestos toward safety of fibrous nanomaterials — H. Nagai, S. Toyokuni (2010)
• Synthetic secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (LGM2605) inhibits Libby amphibole fiber-induced acute inflammation in mice — M. Christofidou-Solomidou, R.A. Pietrofesa, et al. (2019)
• Late Inflammation Induced by Asbestiform Fibers in Mice Is Ameliorated by a Small Molecule Synthetic Lignan — R. Badger, K. Park, et al. (2021)
• Length-dependent retention of carbon nanotubes in the pleural space of mice initiates sustained inflammation and progressive fibrosis on the parietal pleura — F.A. Murphy, C.A. Poland, et al. (2011)
• The pathogenesis of hemophilia; an experimental analysis of the anticephalin hypothesis in hemophilic dogs — J.B. Graham, E.M. Barrow (1957)

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