Biochemical studies in infective amosite pneumoconiosis

Our plain-English summary of Biochemical studies in infective amosite pneumoconiosis, by A.K. Jaiswal (Toxicology, 1981).

The study

• Author: A.K. Jaiswal
• Journal: Toxicology
• Published: 1981;22(1):59-68
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The effects of Candida albicans, of amosite dust, and of the 2 agents combined, on some biochemical parameters of the lung in male guinea pigs were determined. Adult guinea pigs were intratracheally injected with 50 mg of amosite dust and 0.3 mg of viable suspension of mycelia of Candida albicans. The other groups received either dust or organism or none. Biochemical measurements done at 30, 60 and 90 days after infection showed that the superimposed state produced more rapid and drastic changes in pulmonary contents of collagen, mucopolysaccharides and phospholipids and activities of lactic dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase. The levels of lactic acid and pyruvic acid were also more profoundly changed after amosite + Candida. These results indicate that Candida albicans which is commonly found in upper respiratory tract could aggrevate the lesions caused by exposure to asbestos.

In plain English

This was an animal experiment in male guinea pigs. Eighty animals were split into four groups of 20. Two groups had 50 mg of amosite asbestos dust injected into the windpipe, and the other two received salt water. After 100 days, one amosite group and one non-dust group were given 0.3 mg of the fungus Candida albicans the same way. The other two groups received salt water. Five animals per group were killed 30, 60 and 90 days later and their lungs analysed. In the amosite-alone group, lung collagen was 82% and 102% above controls at 60 and 90 days. In the amosite-plus-Candida group, collagen was 67%, 121% and 153% above controls at 30, 60 and 90 days, and mucopolysaccharides were 235% to 370% higher. Candida alone raised collagen by 29% only at 90 days. Lactate dehydrogenase activity and lactic acid also rose most in the combined group. The authors concluded that Candida infection combined with asbestos dust exposure can cause extensive pulmonary fibrosis and changes in lung energy metabolism.

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: Animal experiment (intratracheal injection in guinea pigs, four groups, lungs examined at three time points)
• Who was studied: 80 adult male guinea pigs weighing 300 to 350 g, in 4 groups of 20 (amosite plus Candida albicans, amosite alone, Candida albicans alone, normal saline controls); 5 animals per group killed at 30, 60 and 90 days after Candida (or saline) inoculation. The study was done at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India.
• Exposure: 50 mg of amosite dust (fibre size about 30 micrometres) injected into the trachea. After 100 days, 0.3 mg of the fungus Candida albicans was injected into the trachea, given alone or combined with the earlier amosite dose. Controls received normal saline.
• Main results:
  • Amosite-alone group: lung collagen increased by 38.5% (P less than 0.01) at 30 days and by 82% and 102% at 60 and 90 days, compared with controls.
  • Amosite-alone group: mucopolysaccharides were 98%, 176% and 214% above controls at 30, 60 and 90 days.
  • Amosite plus Candida group: collagen was 67%, 121% and 153% higher than controls at 30, 60 and 90 days.
  • Amosite plus Candida group: mucopolysaccharides increased by 235% at 30 days, and by 281.5% and 370% at 60 and 90 days (all P less than 0.001).
  • Candida-alone group: collagen and mucopolysaccharides were unaffected except at 90 days, when they were increased by 29% and 36% (both P less than 0.01).
  • Lactate dehydrogenase activity: in the amosite-alone group it was 30%, 56% and 86% higher at 30, 60 and 90 days. In the amosite plus Candida group it was 72%, 90.5% and 144% higher.
  • Lactic acid: in the amosite-alone group it was 62%, 66% and 85% higher (all P less than 0.01). In the amosite plus Candida group it was 147%, 121% and 176% higher (all P less than 0.001).
  • Amosite plus Candida group: succinate dehydrogenase increased by 68% at 30 days, fell to a 14% increase at 60 days, and returned to normal values at 90 days.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that changes were greater with amosite combined with Candida albicans than with amosite alone. They concluded that Candida infection, which they noted frequently occurs in the upper respiratory tract, combined with asbestos dust exposure can cause extensive pulmonary fibrosis along with significant changes in the energy metabolism of lung tissue.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that their experiments could not clearly show whether an immunological mechanism was involved in the extensive fibrosis seen in the combined group.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Amosite, Pneumoconiosis, Collagen.

Related studies

• Experimental infective pneumoconiosis: effect of asbestos dust and Candida albicans infection on the lungs of rhesus monkeys — S.H. Zaidi, R. Shanker, et al. (1973)
• Pleural plaques in asbestosis: effect of Candida albicans — K.C. Saxena, L. Srivastava, et al. (1982)
• Biochemical changes in guinea pig lungs due to amosite asbestos — V. Misra, Q. Rahman, et al. (1978)
• Biological effects of chrysolite after SO2 sorption. iii. effects on the biochemical components of alveolar washing — A. Oblin, J.M. Warnet, et al. (1978)
• Benign asbestos pleural effusion associated with pulmonary aspergilloma — J. Hiyama, M. Marukawa, et al. (1998)
• Pneumoconiosis: comparison of imaging and pathologic findings — S. Chong, K.S. Lee, et al. (2006)

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