Abstract
Pneumoconiosis is still a health problem in Turkey and has a relatively high incidence. Retired underground miners were investigated to document alveolitis, and to observe the difference in the cellular profiles of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid with or without pneumoconiosis.
Twenty nine retired male miners and 17 controls, eight non-smokers (four male, four female) and nine smokers (six male, three female), without any dust exposure were evaluated. According to the International Labor Office 1980 classification system, the miners were allocated to three subgroups: eight without pneumoconiosis, 11 with simple pneumoconiosis, and 10 with progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). Spirometric tests and arterial blood gases analysis were done and fibreoptic bronchoscopy and BAL were performed in all subjects.
The study and the control subjects were comparable in respect to age, smoking habits, except the non-smoker controls, and the duration of dust exposure, except the controls. The amount of recovered BAL fluid was lower in all miners compared with the non-smoker controls (p<0.05). The amount of recovered BAL fluid and the total cell count correlated significantly (r = 0.48, p<0.01). The percentage of lymphocytes in the BAL fluid of miners without pneumoconiosis and with PMF (p<0.05) and that of simple pneumoconiosis (p<0.01) was significantly lower compared with the non-smoker controls.
Alveolitis was not a representative feature of Turkish subjects with an occupational history of underground mining, and BAL fluid cellular profile did not seem to be different in miners with or without pneumoconiosis.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (62.3 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bégin R. O., Cantin A. M., Boileau R. D., Bisson G. Y. Spectrum of alveolitis in quartz-exposed human subjects. Chest. 1987 Dec;92(6):1061–1067. doi: 10.1378/chest.92.6.1061. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Costabel U., Donner C. F., Haslam P. L., Rizzato G., Teschler H., Velluti G., Wallaert B. Clinical guidelines and indications for bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL): occupational lung diseases due to inhalation of inorganic dust. Eur Respir J. 1990 Sep;3(8):946-9, 961-9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hayem A., Scharfman A., Laine A., Lafitte J. J., Degand P. Le lavage broncho-alvéolaire dans la pneumoconiose du mineur de charbon. Aspects biochimiques. Rev Fr Mal Respir. 1983;11(4):417–426. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lesur O. J., Mancini N. M., Humbert J. C., Chabot F., Polu J. M. Interleukin-6, interferon-gamma, and phospholipid levels in the alveolar lining fluid of human lungs. Profiles in coal worker's pneumoconiosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Chest. 1994 Aug;106(2):407–413. doi: 10.1378/chest.106.2.407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martin T. R., Raghu G., Maunder R. J., Springmeyer S. C. The effects of chronic bronchitis and chronic air-flow obstruction on lung cell populations recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1985 Aug;132(2):254–260. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1985.132.2.254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rihs H. P., Lipps P., May-Taube K., Jäger D., Schmidt E. W., Hegemann J. H., Baur X. Immunogenetic studies on HLA-DR in German coal miners with and without coal worker's pneumoconiosis. Lung. 1994;172(6):347–354. doi: 10.1007/BF00172848. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rom W. N., Bitterman P. B., Rennard S. I., Cantin A., Crystal R. G. Characterization of the lower respiratory tract inflammation of nonsmoking individuals with interstitial lung disease associated with chronic inhalation of inorganic dusts. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1987 Dec;136(6):1429–1434. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm/136.6.1429. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Teles De Araújo A., Alfarroba E., Freitas e Costa M. The role of monoclonal antibodies in the study of chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases induced by dust inhalation. Eur J Respir Dis Suppl. 1986;146:203–210. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vaillant P., Menard O., Vignaud J. M., Martinet N., Martinet Y. The role of cytokines in human lung fibrosis. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 1996 Apr;51(2):145–152. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vanhee D., Gosset P., Wallaert B., Voisin C., Tonnel A. B. Mechanisms of fibrosis in coal workers' pneumoconiosis. Increased production of platelet-derived growth factor, insulin-like growth factor type I, and transforming growth factor beta and relationship to disease severity. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994 Oct;150(4):1049–1055. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.150.4.7921435. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Voisin C., Gosselin B., Ramon P., Wallaert B., Aerts C., Lenoir L. Le lavage broncho-alvéolaire dans la pneumoconiose des mineurs de charbon. Aspects cytologiques. Rev Fr Mal Respir. 1983;11(4):455–466. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]