Oxygen radical-mediated mutagenic effect of asbestos on human lymphocytes: suppression by oxygen radical scavengers

Our plain-English summary of Oxygen radical-mediated mutagenic effect of asbestos on human lymphocytes: suppression by oxygen radical scavengers, by L.G. Korkina, A.D. Durnev, T.B. Suslova, et al (Mutation Research, 1992).

The study

• Authors: L.G. Korkina, A.D. Durnev, T.B. Suslova, Z.P. Cheremisina, N.O. Daugel-Dauge, I.B. Afanas'ev
• Journal: Mutation Research
• Published: 1992;265(2):245-53
• Cited by: 51 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The mutagenic effect of chrysotile asbestos fibers and zeolite and latex particles on human lymphocytes in whole blood has been studied. It was concluded that their mutagenic activities were mediated by oxygen radicals because they were inhibited by antioxidant enzymes (SOD and catalase) and oxygen radical scavengers (rutin, ascorbic acid, and bemitil). It was proposed that oxygen radicals were released by phagocytes activated upon exposure to mineral dusts and fibers. The study of lucigenin- and luminol-amplified chemiluminescence of peritoneal macrophages stimulated by chrysotile fibers and zeolite and latex particles has shown that their mutagenic action is probably mediated by different oxygen species, namely, by the iron-oxygen complexes (perferryl ions) plus hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and superoxide ion, respectively. From the oxygen radical scavengers studied, rutin was the most effective inhibitor of the mutagenic effect of mineral fibers and dusts.

In plain English

This laboratory study tested whether chrysotile asbestos fibers, zeolite (clinoptilolite) particles and latex particles cause chromosome damage in human lymphocytes cultured in whole blood from healthy donors, and whether oxygen radical scavengers block that damage. Dusts and fibers (0.01 or 0.05 mg/ml) were added to 56-hour cultures after 52 hours, and metaphases were scored for chromatid and chromosome breaks. All three materials raised the percentage of aberrant cells above the control level of 1.3 plus or minus 0.7 per cent: latex 0.01 mg/ml gave 6.0 plus or minus 1.4 (P less than 0.01), zeolite 0.05 mg/ml gave 8.0 plus or minus 1.9 and chrysotile 0.05 mg/ml gave 7.8 plus or minus 1.3 (both P less than 0.001). Superoxide dismutase nearly abolished the latex and chrysotile effects, catalase was the strongest inhibitor for zeolite, and rutin was the most effective scavenger. Separate chemiluminescence experiments used peritoneal phagocytes from rats. The authors concluded the mutagenic activities were mediated by oxygen radicals, of different types for each material.

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What the study did and found

• Design: In vitro experimental study: chromosome aberration assay in cultured human whole-blood lymphocytes, together with chemiluminescence measurements in peritoneal phagocytes isolated from rats
• Who was studied: Lymphocytes in whole blood from healthy donors, cultured in vitro; work carried out in Moscow, U.S.S.R.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos (Tuva, U.S.S.R.; 5-10 micrometre fiber length), natural zeolite clinoptilolite (1-3 micrometre particles) and latex, at 0.01 or 0.05 mg/ml in lymphocyte cultures and 0.5 mg/ml (latex 0.01 per cent) in chemiluminescence tests, with or without SOD, catalase, rutin, ascorbic acid or bemitil
• Main results:
  • In the lymphocyte cultures, chrysotile at 0.01 mg/ml gave 5.3 plus or minus 1.3 per cent aberrant cells (300 metaphases, P less than 0.01) and at 0.05 mg/ml 7.8 plus or minus 1.3 per cent (400 metaphases, P less than 0.001)
  • The control cultures showed 1.3 plus or minus 0.7 per cent aberrant cells in 300 metaphases, and latex at 0.01 mg/ml gave 6.0 plus or minus 1.4 per cent (P less than 0.01)
  • Zeolite at 0.05 mg/ml gave 8.0 plus or minus 1.9 per cent aberrant cells in 200 metaphases (P less than 0.001)
  • SOD nearly completely inhibited the chromosome aberrations induced by latex particles and chrysotile fibers
  • SOD had no significant effect on the mutagenic activity of zeolite
  • Catalase was the strongest inhibitor of zeolite-induced aberrations (per cent aberrant cells from 8.0 plus or minus 1.8 to 2.0 plus or minus 0.8), less effective for chrysotile (to 3.3 plus or minus 1.0), and had practically no effect on latex
  • Rutin was the strongest of the three scavengers tested: the control level of aberrant cells was reached with 10 to the minus 6 M rutin for chrysotile-induced aberrations
  • Ascorbic acid began to increase the number of chromosome aberrations at concentrations above 10 to the minus 4 M, having suppressed them at lower concentrations
  • In peritoneal phagocytes, lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence was 208 mV with chrysotile and 282 mV with zeolite (both 0.5 mg/ml) versus 1845 mV with latex (0.01 per cent); luminol-amplified values were 1847, 3119 and 1629 mV respectively
  • Removing iron ions from chrysotile fibers and zeolite particles by HCl treatment made them efficient stimuli of lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the mutagenic activity of mineral particles and dusts is mediated by oxygen species of different types (superoxide ion, hydrogen peroxide, or perferryl ions), and suggested that scavengers and chelators might be used in prophylaxis and treatment of occupational and environmental diseases

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile, Zeolite, Macrophage, Superoxide, Mineral Fiber.

Related studies

• Scavengers of active oxygen species prevent cigarette smoke-induced asbestos fiber penetration in rat tracheal explants — A. Churg, J. Hobson, et al. (1989)
• Chromosomal aberrations induced by chrysotile and crocidolite in human lymphocytes in vitro — F. Valerio, M. de Ferrari, et al. (1983)
• Reduction of chrysotile asbestos-induced genotoxicity in human peripheral blood lymphocytes by garlic extract — K. Bhattacharya, S. Yadava, et al. (2004)
• Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of calcium silicates on human lymphocytes in vitro — M. Aslam, N. Fatima, et al. (1993)
• Microsomal lipid peroxidation and oxy-radicals formation are induced by insoluble iron-containing minerals — M. Fontecave, M. Jaouen, et al. (1990)
• Studies on the role of oxygen radicals in asbestos-induced cytopathology of cultured human lung mesothelial cells — E.W. Gabrielson, G.M. Rosen, et al. (1986)

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