Light microscope studies on the effects of chrysotile asbestos and fiber glass on the morphology and reticulin formation of cultured lung fibroblasts

Our plain-English summary of Light microscope studies on the effects of chrysotile asbestos and fiber glass on the morphology and reticulin formation of cultured lung fibroblasts, by R.J. Richards, F. Jacoby (Environmental Research, 1976).

The study

• Authors: R.J. Richards, F. Jacoby
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1976;11(1):112-21
• Cited by: 35 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Chrysotile asbestos is highly cytotoxic when initially added to cultured lung fibroblasts, and this is reflected by cell death and by nuclear, nucleolar, and cytoplasmic abnormalities. Renewed growth and recovery of the culture occurs, but the subsequent deposition of reticulin is atypical. The results presented are correlated with earlier biochemical studies and subsequent electron microscopical investigations. Fiber glass causes little cell destruction, yet produces similar morphological changes but to a much lesser degree.

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

In plain English

This was a laboratory study of rabbit lung cells (fibroblasts) grown in glass tubes and examined under a light microscope. The cells came from two rabbits. Cultures received a single dose of a reference sample of chrysotile asbestos, a single dose of respirable glass fibers, or no dust, and were followed for up to 32 days. By Days 3 to 4 of culture, chrysotile had heavily decimated the cell population. Abnormal nucleoli (structures inside the cell nucleus) were seen in almost 100% of cells at Day 3, about 10% of cells had two nuclei up to Day 7, and cell division was under 0.2%. In untreated cultures, cell division was about 2% at Days 3 to 4, and abnormal nucleoli were under 1%. The chrysotile cultures later recovered. At Day 20, however, they showed frequent dense clusters of short, thick reticular (connective tissue) fibers. Glass fibers were less toxic, and they stayed in the cultures. About 6% of cells had two nuclei at Day 3 and about 1% at Day 7. The authors concluded that both dusts caused similar changes, but to different degrees. They also noted that the cell abnormalities were not specific to dust toxicity.

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) cell culture study using light microscopy
• Who was studied: Cultured lung fibroblasts from Dutch rabbits; subcultures of cell lines derived from two different rabbits, followed for up to 32 days
• Exposure: A single application of UICC reference chrysotile asbestos A, or of respirable glass fibers, added after 24 hours of growth. Control cultures received medium without dust. The dose is printed but its unit is unreadable in the scanned text.
• Main results:
  • Untreated control cultures: cell division (mitotic activity) about 2% at Days 3 to 4; abnormal nucleoli under 1%
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures at Days 3 to 4: cell population heavily decimated
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures: nucleolar abnormalities in almost 100% of cells at Day 3
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures: about 10% of cells had two nuclei up to Day 7
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures: cell division under 0.2%, and some of the divisions seen were abnormal
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures recovered after the early period (up to 7 or 8 days)
  • Chrysotile-treated cultures: little or no reticular fiber formation up to Day 7. At Day 20 there were frequent dense clusters of short, thick reticular fibers.
  • Fiber glass-treated cultures: about 6% of cells had two nuclei at Day 3
  • Fiber glass-treated cultures: about 1% of cells had two nuclei by Day 7
  • Glass fibers, unlike chrysotile, were not removed from the cultures by medium changes
  • Fiber glass-treated cultures at Day 20: similar to controls, but with more clusters of short reticular fibers in the denser areas
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that chrysotile asbestos and fiber glass both caused similar morphological changes and alterations in reticulin deposition in lung fibroblast cultures, but to different degrees.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that the cell abnormalities seen are not specific to dust toxicity
  • Changing the culture medium removed large amounts of the chrysotile dust
  • Chrysotile fibers generally could not be seen inside cells with the light (phase contrast) microscope

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Fibroblast, Deposition.

Related studies

• A comparison of the cytogenetic response to asbestos and glass fibre in Chinese hamster and human cell lines. Demonstration of growth inhibition in primary human fibroblasts — A.M. Sincock, J.D. Delhanty, et al. (1982)
• Sister-chromatid exchange and cell kinetics in CHO-K1 cells, human fibroblasts and lymphoblastoid cells exposed in vitro to asbestos and glass fibre — G. Casey (1983)
• Cytotoxicity and multinucleate giant cell formation in Chinese hamster lung fibroblast caused by crocidolite and chrysotile — Y.C. Hong, S.S. Choi (1997)
• Cellular ingestion, toxic effects, and lesions observed in human bronchial epithelial tissue and cells cultured with asbestos and glass fibers — A. Haugen, P.W. Schafer, et al. (1982)
• Fibre-induced lipid peroxidation leads to DNA adduct formation in Salmonella typhimurium TA104 and rat lung fibroblasts — P.J. Howden, S.P. Faux (1996)
• Formation of pseudo-asbestos bodies on sized glass fibres in the hamster lung — A. Holmes, A. Morgan, et al. (1983)

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