Pleural plaques in asbestosis: effect of Candida albicans

Our plain-English summary of Pleural plaques in asbestosis: effect of Candida albicans, by K.C. Saxena, L. Srivastava, S. Ali, et al (Toxicology Letters, 1982).

The study

• Authors: K.C. Saxena, L. Srivastava, S. Ali, R.K. Dogra
• Journal: Toxicology Letters
• Published: 1982;13(3-4):175-8
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Effect of chrysotile dust alone or together with Candida albicans administered intratracheally in guinea pigs was studied in the genesis of pleural plaques over a period of 12 months. A significant increase of mucopolysaccharides, phosphorus, calcium and -SH content was detected in pleural fluid of animals treated with chrysotile and Candida albicans together than in those treated with chrysotile or Candida albicans alone. The results suggest that an infection of Candida albicans accentuates the effect of chrysotile by altering the biochemical parameters preceding to the formation of pleural plaques.

In plain English

This animal experiment, from the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre in Lucknow, India, tested whether the yeast Candida albicans changes the effect of chrysotile asbestos dust on the pleura, the lining around the lungs. The authors used 100 male guinea pigs. All were first immunised with killed Candida and then divided into four groups of 25. Each group had one of four things placed into the windpipe: saline, chrysotile, Candida, or chrysotile plus Candida. Six animals per group were killed at 1, 6 and 12 months. Fluid washed from the chest cavity was tested for mucopolysaccharides, sulfhydryl (-SH) content, phosphorus, calcium and protein. The study measured these chemicals and did not report examining pleural plaques themselves. The chrysotile-plus-Candida group showed a significant increase over time in mucopolysaccharides, calcium, phosphorus and -SH content, and the authors described its increases as more pronounced. Chrysotile alone produced some increase in all measures. Candida alone produced only a little increase in calcium and phosphorus. The authors concluded that lung infection together with dust may speed up pleural plaque formation.

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: guinea pigs given substances into the windpipe (intratracheally), with groups of animals killed at set times
• Who was studied: 100 male guinea pigs (average weight 300 g) from the institute's own animal colony (ITRC, Lucknow, India), split into four groups of 25. Six animals from each group were killed at 1, 6 and 12 months after inoculation.
• Exposure: Chrysotile dust from Brahmanpalli, Cuddapah (India), ground to particles under 30 μm and autoclaved, and/or 500 µg Candida albicans, given intratracheally in 1.5 ml; controls received sterile normal saline. The group list gives the chrysotile dose as 75 mg, while the methods text says 50 mg was suspended in 1.5 ml saline. All animals had first been immunised by injection of killed Candida albicans.
• Main results:
  • Animals given chrysotile and Candida albicans together showed a significant increase over time in mucopolysaccharides, calcium, phosphorus and sulfhydryl (-SH) content in pleural fluid
  • Animals given chrysotile alone showed some increase in all the measures tested
  • Animals given Candida albicans alone showed only a little increase in calcium and phosphorus
  • The authors reported that the group receiving chrysotile plus Candida showed more pronounced increases in mucopolysaccharides, calcium and phosphorus
  • The authors interpreted the rise in pleural-fluid mucopolysaccharide as possibly indicating inflammation and possible development of pleural plaques in guinea pigs given chrysotile or chrysotile with Candida
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that pulmonary infection together with dust particles may speed up the process of pleural plaque formation

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Chrysotile.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Plaques, Chrysotile.

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)
• Biochemical studies in infective amosite pneumoconiosis — A.K. Jaiswal (1981)
• Pleural plaques and asbestos: further observations on endemic and other nonoccupational asbestosis — R. Kiviluoto (1965)
• Asbestos-related cancer risk in patients with asbestosis or pleural plaques — J. Ameille, P. Brochard, et al. (2011)
• Inter-reader agreement in HRCT detection of pleural plaques and asbestosis in participants with previous occupational exposure to asbestos — F. Laurent, C. Paris, et al. (2014)
• Asbestos content of lung tissue, lymph nodes, and pleural plaques from former shipyard workers — R.F. Dodson, M.G. Williams, et al. (1990)

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