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Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical... Apr 2024There is a well established association between silica inhalational exposure and autoimmune disease, particularly in the context of intense exposure. We will provide in... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
There is a well established association between silica inhalational exposure and autoimmune disease, particularly in the context of intense exposure. We will provide in this article an update overview of new sources of silica dust exposure, with evidences of mechanisms from human and animal studies for association between silica and autoimmune diseases, their early detection of silicosis and new options for treatment.
RECENT FINDINGS
New industries such as jewelry polishing, denim jean production, fabrication of artificial stone benchtops, glass manufacturing and glassware has led to re-emergence of silicosis around the world. Silicosis with long term exposure to dust containing crystalline silica has been examined as a possible risk factor with respect to several autoimmune diseases as scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, and some types of small vessel vasculitis with renal involvement. The dust may act to promote or accelerate disease development, requiring some other factors to break immune tolerance or initiate autoimmunity. Autophagy, apoptosis, or pyroptosis-related signaling pathways have also been suggested to contribute to the formation of those pathways with coordination of environmental co-exposure that can magnify autoimmune vulnerability.
SUMMARY
Better understanding the mechanisms that involve silica -induced autoimmune diseases may contribute to early diagnosis.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Occupational Exposure; Silicosis; Silicon Dioxide; Autoimmune Diseases; Dust
PubMed: 38277164
DOI: 10.1097/ACI.0000000000000966 -
Clinics in Chest Medicine Sep 2023Occupation is an important contributor to disparities in respiratory disease, affecting financial status, health-care access, and exposure to hazardous substances.... (Review)
Review
Occupation is an important contributor to disparities in respiratory disease, affecting financial status, health-care access, and exposure to hazardous substances. Although occupation and associated exposures are included in the socioecological models, work exposures remain persistently absent from research on health inequities and their contribution to health. This article focuses on the occupational contribution to disparities in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, silicosis, coronavirus disease 2019, and lung cancer. Because occupational exposures are largely preventable through proper workplace controls, the recognition of occupational causes of disease can provide an opportunity for interventions to bring about health equity.
Topics: Humans; Occupational Diseases; COVID-19; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Asthma; Respiration Disorders; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 37517841
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccm.2023.03.016 -
Open Respiratory Archives 2024Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects about 5% of the world's population and generates high health and social costs. Proper management of the disease... (Review)
Review
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects about 5% of the world's population and generates high health and social costs. Proper management of the disease requires a correct diagnosis, based on objective measures of functional impairment, as well as symptom control and assessment of the future risk of exacerbations.It has been estimated that 18% of asthma patients in Western Europe have severe asthma and approximately 50% of them have poor control. The severity of asthma is established based on the minimum maintenance treatment needs to achieve control. Asthma clinical practice guidelines recommend classifying severe patients into allergic asthma (T2); eosinophilic asthma (T2) and non-T2 asthma in order to establish the most appropriate treatment.In recent decades, new biological therapies have been developed that can be applied according to the phenotype and endotype of asthma, allowing for selective and personalized treatment. These phenotypes and endotypes can change over time and therefore, the identification of biomarkers capable of predicting the severity, the course of the disease and the response to a given treatment seems essential. A large number of biomarkers have been studied in asthma, but so far only a few can be readily used in routine clinical practice. The application of omics technologies (epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, etc.) for this purpose is still in the research phase.
PubMed: 38707659
DOI: 10.1016/j.opresp.2024.100324 -
Medicina Clinica Aug 2023
Topics: Humans; Silicosis
PubMed: 37142514
DOI: 10.1016/j.medcli.2023.03.028 -
African Journal of Thoracic and... 2023
PubMed: 37970572
DOI: 10.7196/AJTCCM.2023.v29i3.1495 -
American Journal of Industrial Medicine Nov 2023The identification of markers that can facilitate the early diagnosis of silicosis has remained challenging. We evaluated the association of inflammatory markers with...
BACKGROUND
The identification of markers that can facilitate the early diagnosis of silicosis has remained challenging. We evaluated the association of inflammatory markers with the presence of silicosis and lung function impairment in individuals exposed to silica.
METHODS
Individuals exposed and not exposed to silica were assessed by occupational history, clinical findings, lung function, chest imaging findings, and inflammatory markers.
RESULTS
Among 297 men evaluated, 51 were unexposed controls (G1), 149 were exposed to silica without silicosis (G2), and 97 were exposed to silica with silicosis (G3). Inflammatory marker levels were higher in G3 than in G2 and G1. Platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), soluble tumor necrosis factor II (sTNFRII), and macrophage inflammatory protein-4 (MIP-4) were associated with silicosis, and LDH, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), sTNFRII, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), and fibrinogen were negatively associated with lung function.
CONCLUSION
Blood inflammatory markers are associated with silicosis and impaired lung function.
Topics: Male; Humans; Silicon Dioxide; Silicosis; Lung; Biomarkers; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
PubMed: 37615855
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23528 -
European Respiratory Review : An... Sep 2023Silicosis as an occupational lung disease has been present in our lives for centuries. Research studies have already developed and implemented many animal models to... (Review)
Review
Silicosis as an occupational lung disease has been present in our lives for centuries. Research studies have already developed and implemented many animal models to study the pathogenesis and molecular basis of the disease and enabled the search for treatments. As all experimental animal models used to date have their advantages and disadvantages, there is a continuous search for a better model, which will not only accelerate basic research, but also contribute to clinical aspects and drug development. We review here, for the first time, the main animal models developed to date to study silicosis and the unique advantages of the zebrafish model that make it an optimal complement to other models. Among the main advantages of zebrafish for modelling human diseases are its ease of husbandry, low maintenance cost, external fertilisation and development, its transparency from early life, and its amenability to chemical and genetic screening. We discuss the use of zebrafish as a model of silicosis, its similarities to other animal models and the characteristics of patients at molecular and clinical levels, and show the current state of the art of inflammatory and fibrotic zebrafish models that could be used in silicosis research.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Disease Models, Animal; Silicon Dioxide; Silicosis; Zebrafish
PubMed: 37558264
DOI: 10.1183/16000617.0078-2023 -
Archivos de Bronconeumologia Nov 2023
Topics: Humans; Silicosis
PubMed: 37394354
DOI: 10.1016/j.arbres.2023.05.020 -
Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) Sep 2023-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used because of its mucolytic effects, taking part in the therapeutic protocols of cystic fibrosis. NAC is also administered as an... (Review)
Review
-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used because of its mucolytic effects, taking part in the therapeutic protocols of cystic fibrosis. NAC is also administered as an antidote in acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdosing. Thanks to its wide antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, NAC may also be of benefit in other chronic inflammatory and fibrotizing respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchial asthma, idiopathic lung fibrosis, or lung silicosis. In addition, NAC exerts low toxicity and rare adverse effects even in combination with other treatments, and it is cheap and easily accessible. This article brings a review of information on the mechanisms of inflammation and oxidative stress in selected chronic respiratory diseases and discusses the use of NAC in these disorders.
PubMed: 37760016
DOI: 10.3390/antiox12091713 -
American Journal of Industrial Medicine Aug 2023Silicosis is a fibrotic lung disease caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Historically, silicosis was common among miners and other professions in the...
BACKGROUND
Silicosis is a fibrotic lung disease caused by exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Historically, silicosis was common among miners and other professions in the 20th century, and in recent decades has re-emerged in coal mining and appeared in new workplaces, including the manufacture of distressed jeans and artificial stone countertops.
METHODS
Physician billing data for the province of Ontario between 1992 and 2019 were analyzed across six time-periods (1993-1995, 1996-2000, 2001-2005, 2006-2010, 2011-2015, and 2016-2019). The case definition was two or more billing records within 24 months with a silicosis diagnosis code (ICD-9 502, ICD-10 J62). Cases from 1993 to 1995 were excluded as prevalent cases. Crude incidence rates per 100,000 persons were calculated by time-period, age, sex, and region. Analyses were repeated in parallel for pulmonary fibrosis (PF) (ICD-9 515, ICD-10 J84) and asbestosis (ICD-9 501; ICD-10 J61).
RESULTS
From 1996 to 2019, 444 cases of silicosis, 2719 cases of asbestosis and 59,228 cases of PF were identified. Silicosis rates decreased from 0.42 cases per 100,000 in 1996-2000 to 0.06 per 100,000 people in 2016-2019. A similar trend was observed for asbestosis (1.66 to 0.51 per 100,000 persons) but the incidence rate of PF increased from 11.6 to 33.9 per 100,000 persons. Incidence rates for all outcomes were higher among men and older adults.
CONCLUSIONS
A decreasing incidence of silicosis was observed in this analysis. However, the incidence of PF increased, consistent with findings from other jurisdictions. While cases of silicosis have been recorded among artificial stone workers in Ontario these cases do not seem to have impacted the population rates thus far. Ongoing, periodic surveillance of occupational diseases is helpful for tracking population-level trends over time.
Topics: Male; Humans; Aged; Asbestosis; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Ontario; Silicosis; Silicon Dioxide; Occupational Exposure
PubMed: 37302125
DOI: 10.1002/ajim.23504