Serum Concentration of Prostaglandin E2 as a Diagnostic Biomarker in Patients With Silicosis: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: Silicosis is a prevalent incurable pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of silica dust. Study aimed to investigate inflammatory, hematological, and biochemical parameters as additional biomarkers for diagnosing or monitoring silicosis. METHODS: Research enrolled 14 workers with silicosis and 7 healthy controls (without exposure and silicosis). The serum level of prostaglandin E2, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, biochemical, and hematological parameters were measured. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine diagnostic sensitivity of each biomarker. RESULTS: Patients with silicosis have a significantly higher level of prostaglandin E2, erythrocyte, hemoglobin, and hematocrit than patients without silicosis. Prostaglandin E2, hemoglobin, and the erythrocyte count are significant in separating the silicosis cases from healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: Prostaglandin E2 might be an adjuvant peripheral diagnostic biomarker for silicosis, while hematological parameters (erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and hematocrit) might be prognostic biomarkers.

Experimental study on the effect of Si and P ion content in SiO2 exposure environment on the degree of pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Silicosis is a public health issue in developing countries for long and cannot be completely cured. OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of ion content with TNF-α and TGF-ß expression in alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) at different time points in rats exposed to silica and to investigate their correlation with pulmonary fibrosis. METHODS: 42 rats were randomly divided into control group (n = 12) and exposure group (n = 30). Tissues of right lower lungs were collected and fixed for further Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and Masson staining. We collected the BALF to examine the inflammatory cytokines of TNF-α and TGF-ß and measured the ion contents in BALF. RESULTS: The increase of TNF-α level was earlier than TGF-ß. The content of silica in BALF was significantly increased after exposure and reached the maximum at 7th day, similar to the curve of cytokine TGF-ß level. However, phosphorus ions increased quickly after gradual decline of silicon ion and roughly proportional to the curve of degree of fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS: Crystalline silica exposure can cause changes in TGF-ß and TNF-α in BALF and accompanied with fibrosis and ions content variation. The abnormal expression of phosphorus ion may have significance in the occurrence and development of silicosis.

Traumatic Inhalation due to Merapi Volcanic Ash.

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is fibrotic lung diseases of the pulmonary parenchyma following chronic inhalation of inorganic dusts containing crystalline silicon dioxide. The acute manifestations observed after heavy ashfalls include attacks of asthma and bronchitis, with an increased reporting of cough, breathlessness, chest tightness, and wheezing due to irritation of the lining of the airways. The chronic health condition of most concern is silicosis, a diffuse nodular fibrosis of the lungs, develops slowly, usually appearing 10 to 30 years after first exposure. A 35 years old male was admitted to Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta with complaints of progressive dyspnoea, right side chest pain since last 3 month and periodic episodes of dry cough. He had history of exposure to volcanic ash at the location around volcano eruption for about 10 month. Examination revealed hyperresonant note, diminished vesicular breath sounds in lower right side of the chest. The chest X-ray presence leads to bleb. Based on the clinical and radiological suspicion of pneumoconiosis the patient was submitted to computed tomography of the chest and revealed bilateral multiple bullae mainly at the right lung field. The biopsy specimen verified the diagnosis of anthrocosilicosis. There is no proven specific therapy for any form of silicosis. Symptomatic therapy should include treatment of airflow limitation with bronchodilators, aggressive management of respiratory tract infection with antibiotics, and use of supplemental oxygen (if indicated) to prevent complications of chronic hypoxemia.

A long-lasting pandemic: diseases caused by dust containing silica: Italy within the international context.

Diseases caused by dust containing silica represent an exemplary case study in the field of work-related diseases and in the history of the discovery of chronic industrial disease and its relationship to industrial society. Both dust and steam are indissolubly linked to the Industrial Revolution which everywhere was expected to replace slaves with masses of proletarians alike lesser gods. The identification of different nosological entities of dust-related diseases, the discovery that the most harmful dust particles in gold mines were invisible, insurance compensation and the development of the silicosis threshold limit value were all subjects of intense political negotiation that accompanied, with the connivance of doctors and scientists, a compromise between the health of workers and the economic health of industry. The preference for damage compensation (insurance system) over risk prevention (industrial hygienic measures) was also asserted and maintained in post-war Italy. Decline and modification of silicosis in Italy proceeded at the same rate as the introduction and subsequent application of more effective preventative legislation, especially with the protest movements of the working class at the end of the 1960s, together with the elimination of entire sectors of industrial activities, first those specialising in extraction and then the metallurgy.