Lung biological activity of American attapulgite

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Environ. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-9351(87)80198-6· OSTI ID:5897493

Begin, R; Masse, S; Rola-Pleszczynski, M; Geoffroy, M; Martel, M; Desmarais, Y; Sebastien, P

Attapulgite is a fibrous mineral industrially consumed at the rate of over a million tons per year but the biological activity of the material is not fully known. To evaluate the in vivo toxicity of the fibrous materials, they exposed the tracheal lobe of 16 sheep to a single exposure of either 100 ml saline, 100 mg UICC asbestos fibers in 100 ml saline, 100 mg short asbestos fibers in 100 ml saline, or 100 mg attapulgite in 100 ml saline. The animals were studied by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) at Days 2, 12, 24, 40, and 60 and by autopsy at Day 60. In the saline-exposed sheep, BAL and lung histology did not change. In the UICC asbestos-exposed animals, they reproduced the BAL changes previously reported. In the short asbestos-exposed sheep, there were no significant BAL changes. In the attapulgite sheep, they found significant and sustained increases in total BAL cells, macrophages, neutrophils, fibronectin, lactate dehydrogenase, ..beta..-glucuronidase, but BAL cellularity returned to control levels by Day 60 whereas in the UICC asbestos-exposed sheep, it remained significantly above control. Lung histology demonstrated the characteristic peribronchiolar fibrosing alveolitis in the UICC asbestos-exposed sheep, whereas macrophagic alveolitis with minimal airway distortion was seen in the short asbestos-exposed sheep, whereas macrophagic alveolitis with minimal airway distortion was seen in the short asbestos-exposed sheep and in all of the attapulgite-exposed sheep but three which had typical peribronchiolar alveolitis quite similar to that observed in UICC-exposed sheep, but of lower intensity.

• Research Organization: Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec
• OSTI ID: 5897493
• Journal Information: Environ. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Res.; (United States) Vol. 42:2; ISSN ENVRA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
ASBESTOS
ATTAPULGITE
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY
BODY FLUIDS
CLAYS
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DATA
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HISTOLOGY
IN VIVO
INFORMATION
LAVAGE
LEUKOCYTES
LUNGS
MACROPHAGES
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
NEUTROPHILS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PHAGOCYTES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RUMINANTS
SHEEP
SOMATIC CELLS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES