Response of cell cultures to asbestos fibers

Our plain-English summary of Response of cell cultures to asbestos fibers, by J. Bruch (Environmental Health Perspectives, 1974).

The study

• Author: J. Bruch
• Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives
• Published: 1974;9:253-4
• Cited by: 11 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The reaction of macrophages to asbestos and glass fibers was studied by light and by electron microscopy. Measurements were made of LDH release, staining with erythrosine B, and lactate production. Size and shape of asbestos fibers were found to have more effect than the physicochemical properties of the surface. Long fibers resulted in a protracted pathogenic but no acute cytotoxic effect.

In plain English

This was a short laboratory report on cells grown in culture, not a study of people. The author's laboratory exposed guinea pig alveolar macrophages (lung scavenger cells) and an established cell line, L929, to asbestos and to glass fibers. The figures name the asbestos as chrysotile. Long and milled (ground) fibers were compared, along with quartz, corundum and glass powder. The cells took up many fibers, and longer fibers were engulfed by several cells at once. No acute cell death or lysosomal damage was seen at asbestos concentrations up to 100 micrograms per million cells, even after several weeks. The cells showed raised LDH release and erythrosin B staining, both signs of leaky cell membranes, and raised lactate production, a sign that the cells were still alive. After a single exposure to long asbestos or glass fibers, this pattern lasted up to 3 months in established cell lines. Milled fibers behaved like corundum, an inert dust. The authors concluded that fiber size and shape mattered more than surface chemistry, and that long fibers seemed to cause a protracted harmful effect but no acute toxic effect.

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 cell culture (in vitro) experiment, using light and electron microscopy and biochemical tests
• Who was studied: Guinea pig alveolar macrophages and an established cell line (L929) grown in the laboratory at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany; numbers of cultures not given
• Exposure: Asbestos (chrysotile named in the figures) and glass fibers, in long and milled forms. Quartz, corundum and glass powder were comparison dusts. Asbestos concentrations went up to 100 micrograms per million cells; the figures also mention 1 mg per million cells.
• Main results:
  • All cell types took up many fibers; longer fibers were engulfed by several cells at the same time
  • No acute cell death or lysosomal damage was seen at asbestos concentrations up to 100 micrograms per million cells, even after several weeks of culture
  • LDH levels and the proportion of stained cells rose, indicating abnormal membrane permeability; some of these changes were also produced by toxic dusts like quartz
  • In established cell lines, high lactate production together with raised membrane permeability persisted up to 3 months after a single exposure to long asbestos or glass fibers
  • Milled asbestos or glass fibers produced a pattern comparable to inert dusts such as corundum
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that fiber size and shape were essential factors in asbestos pathogenicity, more important than the physicochemical properties of the surface, and that long fibers seemed to produce a protracted pathogenic but no acute cytotoxic effect

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Macrophage, LDH Release.

Related studies

• Effects of chrysotile and acid-treated chrysotile on macrophage cultures — E.G. Beck, P.F. Holt, et al. (1971)
• Macrophage functions after exposure to mineral fibers — F. Tilkes, E.G. Beck (1983)
• Comparison of effects on macrophage cultures of glass fibre, glass powder, and chrysotile asbestos — E.G. Beck, P.F. Holt, et al. (1972)
• Asbestos cytotoxicity in a long term macrophage-like cell culture — M.J. Wade, L.E. Lipkin, et al. (1976)
• Response of perifused alveolar macrophages to glass fibers: effect of exposure duration and fiber length — G. Forget, M.J. Lacroix, et al. (1986)
• The mechanism of pleural inflammation by long carbon nanotubes: interaction of long fibres with macrophages stimulates them to amplify pro-inflammatory responses in mesothelial cells — F.A. Murphy, A. Schinwald, et al. (2012)

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