Early response of gastric mucosa to ingested asbestos dust and the dissolution of nickel

Our plain-English summary of Early response of gastric mucosa to ingested asbestos dust and the dissolution of nickel, by S.H. Zaidi, G.S. Gupta, Q. Rahman, et al (Environmental Research, 1976).

The study

• Authors: S.H. Zaidi, G.S. Gupta, Q. Rahman, J.L. Kaw, R. Shanker
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1976;12(2):139-43
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The gastric response evoked by asbestos fibers (chrysotile, tremolite, anthophyllite, and amosite) was studied in guinea pigs 6 hours after oral administration. Substantial amounts of nickel were leached from the dusts into the gastric juice, the maximum being with chrysotile. Histopathological examination of stomach and biochemical analysis for total acidity, peptic activity, and the contents of mucin did not reveal any alterations of significance.

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

In plain English

In this animal experiment from the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre in Lucknow, India, one hundred guinea pigs were split into five groups of 20. After 24 hours of fasting, four groups had 500 mg of chrysotile, tremolite, anthophyllite or amosite in 10 ml of distilled water put into the stomach by tube. The fifth group got water only. All animals were killed 6 hours later. The dust-fed stomachs showed no significant difference from controls on gross or microscopic examination, and fibers lay on the stomach lining without breaking it. Mucin was unchanged. Gastric juice volume fell after chrysotile, free acidity rose after anthophyllite and fell after amosite, and peptic activity fell after amosite. Nickel in gastric juice was significantly higher in asbestos-fed animals than in controls (P less than 0.01). In test-tube work, more nickel dissolved from all four dusts in acid than in water. The authors suggested that any role of the gut in cancers seen in asbestos workers might perhaps come from soluble substances released from the dust in stomach acid.

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 (single oral dose, examined at 6 hours), with an additional in vitro (test-tube) nickel dissolution test
• Who was studied: One hundred guinea pigs from the institute's own colony at the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow, India, divided into five groups of 20: four dust groups and one control group given distilled water
• Exposure: After 24 hours of fasting, a single dose of 500 mg of chrysotile, tremolite, anthophyllite or amosite in 10 ml of distilled water was given through a rubber catheter into the stomach. Controls received 10 ml of distilled water. Animals were sacrificed 6 hours later.
• Main results:
  • On gross and microscopic examination of the stomach, there was no significant difference between dust-fed animals and controls given water.
  • Dust fibers were present on the gastric lining, with no evidence of any break in it.
  • In the chrysotile group, gastric juice volume was decreased (P between 0.05 and 0.02).
  • Free acidity was significantly increased in the anthophyllite group and decreased in the amosite group (P less than 0.01).
  • Mucin content was unchanged in all dust-fed groups.
  • In the amosite group, peptic activity was significantly decreased (P between 0.02 and 0.01).
  • Control animals' gastric juice contained very low amounts of nickel. Asbestos-treated animals had statistically significantly higher nickel concentrations (P less than 0.01).
  • The nickel content of the native dusts was 181 ppm (amosite), 731 ppm (anthophyllite), 212 ppm (chrysotile) and 1081 ppm (tremolite).
  • In vitro, nickel dissolution from all four dusts was markedly higher in hydrochloric acid than in water.
  • Expressed as a percentage of available nickel, amosite and chrysotile showed significantly more leaching than the other two dusts. The authors stated that chrysotile had the maximum dissolution of nickel in gastric juice in the stomach.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that significant amounts of nickel dissolve from ingested asbestos in the stomach. They suggested that any role of the gastrointestinal tract in malignancies seen in asbestos workers may perhaps be attributed to soluble factors released from the dusts in the acidic stomach environment.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that how far ingested fibers penetrate the mucous barrier and the muscular and serosal layers of the gut needs further study.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Tremolite, Anthophyllite, Amosite.

Related studies

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• An investigation of the penetration of ingested asbestos into the normal and abnormal intestinal mucosa of the rat — M.E. Meek, P. Grasso (1983)
• Length-dependent pathogenic effects of nickel nanowires in the lungs and the peritoneal cavity — C.A. Poland, F. Byrne, et al. (2012)
• Can lung cancer risk among nickel refinery workers be explained by occupational exposures other than nickel? — T.K. Grimsrud, S.R. Berge, et al. (2005)

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