Deposition, clearance, and translocation of chrysotile asbestos from peripheral and central regions of the rat lung

Journal Article · Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Environmental Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0013-9351(05)80207-5· OSTI ID:7159283

Coin, P G ^[1]; Roggli, V L ^[2]; Brody, A R ^[3]

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1. National Inst. of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States) Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States) Durham Veterans Administration Medical Centers, NC (United States)
2. Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States) Durham Veterans Administration Medical Centers, NC (United States)
3. National Inst. of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States)

The authors investigated the pulmonary deposition, clearance, and translocation of chrysotile asbestos in the context of their previously developed model of asbestos in the rat. Adult male rats were exposed for 3 hr to an aerosol of chrysotile asbestos. Subgroups were sacrificed up to 29 days postexposure and the lungs of the animals fixed. Peripheral and central regions of the left lung were resected, digested, and analyzed for fiber content by scanning electron microscopy. Pulmonary deposition did not differ between peripheral and central regions. There was no evidence of translocation of fibers from central to peripheral regions. The average diameter of retained fibers decreased over time, consistent with longitudinal splitting. The average length of retained fibers increased over time, consistent with longitudinal splitting. The average length of retained fibers increased over time, consistent with slower clearance of longer fibers. A novel counting scheme to ensure accurate fiber number measurements, allowing the calculation of clearance rates for fibers 0.5 {ge} 16 {mu}m in length. Fibers of length {ge}16 {mu}m were cleared slowly, if at all. These findings could have important implications for the pathogenesis of asbestos-related pleural disease. Many fibers are deposited in the peripheral region, and the longest ({ge}16 {mu}m) will persist there for extended periods.

• OSTI ID: 7159283
• Journal Information: Environmental Research; (United States), Vol. 58:1; ISSN 0013-9351
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ASBESTOS
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