Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0037116 (silicosis)
 1,822 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Several studies indicate that active oxygen species play an important role in the development of pulmonary disease (asbestosis and silicosis) after exposure to mineral dust. The present study was conducted to determine if inhaled fibrogenic minerals induced changes in gene expression and activities of antioxidant enzymes (AOE) in rat lung. Two different fibrogenic minerals were compared, crocidolite, an amphibole asbestos fiber, and cristobalite, a crystalline silicon dioxide particle. Steady-state mRNA levels, immunoreactive protein, and activities of selected AOE were measured in lungs 1-10 days after initiation of exposure and at 14 days after cessation of a 10-day exposure period. Exposure to asbestos resulted in significant increases in steady-state mRNA levels of manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) at 3 and 9 days and of glutathione peroxidase at 6 and 9 days. An increase in steady-state mRNA levels of copper, zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), was observed at 6 days. Exposure to asbestos also resulted in overall increased enzyme activities of catalase, glutathione peroxidase and total superoxide dismutase in lung. In contrast, silica caused a dramatic increase in steady-state levels of MnSOD mRNA at all time periods and an increase in glutathione peroxidase mRNA levels at 9 days. Activities of AOE remained unchanged in silica-exposed lungs. In both models, increases in gene expression of MnSOD correlated with increased amounts of MnSOD immunoreactive protein in lung and the pattern and extent of inflammation. These data indicate that the profiles of AOE are dissimilar during the development of experimental asbestosis or silicosis and suggest different mechanisms of lung defense in response to these minerals.
 ...
PMID:Expression of antioxidant enzymes in rat lungs after inhalation of asbestos or silica. 131 5

A computerized method to quantify and characterize interstitial diseases by using physical texture measures obtained from an analysis of the power spectrum of lung textures in digital chest radiographs was applied to Japanese standard radiographs of pneumoconiosis. Texture measures were determined from standard radiographs of silicosis, asbestosis, and other types of pneumoconiosis as well as chest radiographs of normal lungs. Our preliminary results indicated that the texture measures obtained from computer analysis corresponded closely with the standard categories of silicosis. However, there was no significant correlation between texture measures and the categories for asbestosis and other types of pneumoconiosis in terms of texture pattern. Japanese standard radiographs of pneumoconiosis are categorized according to the profusion of opacities, without reference to the size and shape of the opacities. Furthermore, in some films the size and shape of the opacities vary considerably within the same category. Therefore, it is considered that these characteristics of the standard films affected the results of our texture measures. It also considered that a large ROI and other texture measures are needed to characterize large opacities and mixed-shaped opacities of pneumoconiosis.
 ...
PMID:[Quantitative analysis of pneumoconiosis in standard chest radiographs]. 144 33

The mineral dust diseases, also called the pneumoconioses, comprise a wide spectrum of conditions ranging from diseases characterized by diffuse collagenous pulmonary reactions to relatively small lung burdens of bioactive dusts (e.g. silicosis, asbestosis) to diseases characterized by largely non-collagenous reactions in the face of heavy lung dust burdens (e.g. coal workers pneumoconiosis). According to information submitted to the International Labour Office, which is however incomplete, substantial numbers of individuals are still at risk for the mineral dust diseases in the workplaces of the world. An overview of their epidemiology in industrialized and industrializing countries reveals more commonalities than contrasts. Commonalities include the major determinants of disease (including exposure level, intensity and particle size distribution), their clinical manifestations and, probably, secular trends towards less clinically severe disease, at least in the larger, better controlled workplaces. Still a risk however, in both industrializing as well as industrialized countries, are the small, uncontrolled workplaces, often the source of mini-epidemics. Contrasts relate to the incidence and/or prevalence rates of tuberculosis amongst workforces at risk for the mineral dust diseases. Rates, which are invariably higher in industrializing than in industrialized economies, usually reflect the background tuberculosis rates in the populations which furnish the industrial workforces and they should be the target for control measures. Research in the industrialized countries should focus on disease mechanisms and on the bioactivity of workplace contaminants, old and new, and in the industrializing countries on the distribution and determinants of mineral dust diseases in their workplaces.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:The mineral dust diseases. 152 73

Epidemiological surveillance of sentinel occupationally related deaths commonly relies on computerized analyses of mortality data obtained from vital statistics records. A computer search of death records in the District of Columbia for the period 1980 to 1987 identified 15 cases that noted asbestosis, silicosis, coal worker's pneumoconiosis, or primary cancer of the pleura/mesothelioma as the underlying cause of death. A manual review of the death certificates for the same period identified three times as many cases (n = 48) with any mention of these conditions. Problems with performing surveillance of these events using death certificates include the lack of sufficient information to identify mesotheliomas and the failure to code and computerize all contributing causes of death.
 ...
PMID:Surveillance of sentinel occupational mortality in the District of Columbia: 1980 to 1987. 842 49

A disordered immunologic activity has been observed in humans and animal models of asbestosis and silicosis. To characterize the lung immunologic response following long-term occupational exposure to asbestos, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed on 28 nonsmoking individuals. Increased BAL lymphocytes were observed in one third. Lung lymphocytes were predominantly of the CD4+ helper-inducer subtype with increased CD4+/CD8+ ratio and increased surface expression of DR antigen consistent with the activation phenotype. Histologic evaluation of lung tissue from two individuals with lymphocytic-macrophage alveolitis and asbestos exposure revealed an infiltration of alveolar walls with chronic inflammatory mononuclear cells (lymphocytes). Interferon gamma was spontaneously released by BAL cells from 19 (76 percent) of 25 of the individuals with asbestos exposure and only one of ten normal controls. The release of interferon gamma by BAL cells could be further stimulated with concanavalin A and suppressed by cyclosporine. Although asbestosis is characterized by a predominant alveolar macrophage alveolitis, there is a subgroup with lymphocytic alveolitis and activated lymphocytes participating in the inflammatory response, especially in those without respiratory impairment early in the course of the disease process.
 ...
PMID:Lymphocyte-macrophage alveolitis in nonsmoking individuals occupationally exposed to asbestos. 154 Nov 47

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) is a peptidyldipeptide hydrolase that is located mainly on the luminal surface of vascular endothelial cells but also in cells derived from the monocyte-macrophage system. Physiologically, ACE is a key enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system, converting angiotensin I into the potent vasopressor angiotensin II and also inactivating the vasodilator bradykinin. Increased serum ACE activity (SACE) has been reported in pathologies involving a stimulation of the monocytic cell line, primarily granulomatous diseases. Sarcoidosis is the most frequent and the better studied of these diseases; high SACE is not only a well-established marker for the diagnosis but is also a useful tool for following its course and evaluating the effect of therapy. SACE can also be increased in nonsarcoidotic pulmonary granulomatous diseases such as silicosis and asbestosis, in extrathoracic granulomatous pathologies such as Gauchers disease and leprosis, and, to a lesser extent, in nongranulomatous disorders such as hyperthyroidism or cholestasis. On the other hand, monitoring sarcoidosis obviates the measurement of ACE activity in other biological fluids, e.g., broncho-alveolar and cerebrospinal fluids, in the search of a locoregional dissemination or dis-simulation of the disease. Decreased SACE has been reported in vascular pathologies involving an endothelial abnormality, e.g., deep vein thrombosis, and in endothelium dysfunctions related to the toxicity of chemo- and radiotherapy used in cancers, leukemias, and hematopoietic or organ transplantations. SACE is also of interest for monitoring arterial hypertension treated with specific synthetic ACE inhibitors. These various reasons for determining ACE activity have led to the development of numerous methods. The most widely used is the spectrophotometric assay using hippuryl-histidyl-leucine as substrate. Fluorimetric and radiochemical assays using both classic and novel substrates have been proposed, but they are time consuming, require special apparatus, and are not suited to automation. Kinetic spectrophotometry of furylacryloyl-phenylalanyl-glycyl-glycine hydrolysis is now used extensively because it is easy to automatize. Efforts are now required to standardize one or more of these assays. Indeed, "normal" plasma values differ not only according to the substrate, but also to the method of determination and to sex and age.
 ...
PMID:Angiotensin-converting enzyme: clinical applications and laboratory investigations on serum and other biological fluids. 166 62

To provide a precise correlation between high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) findings and histologic studies of various parenchymal lung diseases, 20 fixed and inflated lungs were studied as follows: (a) Every lung was cut at the corresponding CT level into 1.5-mm-thick sections, (b) selected slices were cut into small blocks to prepare histologic slides, (c) each slide was photographed, and (d) the image of the entire lung section was reconstituted with the enlarged photographs (assembled as in a jigsaw puzzle). Results obtained in cases of normal lungs, pulmonary edema, alveolitis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, emphysema, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, silicosis-asbestosis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis demonstrated the method to be accurate in correlating high-resolution CT findings and the corresponding histologic data.
 ...
PMID:High-resolution CT of parenchymal lung disease: precise correlation with histologic findings. 173 81

A 54-yr old male patient with a history of dyspnea and cough is presented. Due to the clinical course of disease and the radiological changes in the chest a diagnosis of sarcoidosis was established. However, the open lung biopsy revealed the true nature of the pulmonary disease: pulmonary adiaspiromycosis, only secondary to asbestosis, siderosis and silicosis as due to the well known occupational exposure to asbestos and other dusts.
 ...
PMID:[Pulmonary adiaspiromycosis]. 176 90

The expense of collecting primary data, coupled with limited authority to mandate reporting, requires alternative methods of implementing an occupational disease registry in Illinois. One alternative data source for surveillance of some occupational diseases is hospital discharge records. Because these records lack personal identifiers, it has been impossible historically to match records belonging to the same individual and obtain reliable case estimates. To circumvent this difficulty, an algorithm has been developed to match anonymous hospital discharge records collected from all Illinois hospitals. The algorithm was based on the assumption that specific combinations of occupational disease code, sex, zip code, and date of birth would identify an individual to whom multiple hospitalizations belong. Matching with the algorithm reduced the 1986 case estimates from 597 to 499 for all cases of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, asbestosis, and silicosis.
 ...
PMID:An algorithm for matching anonymous hospital discharge records used in occupational disease surveillance: anonymous record matching algorithm. 179 7

The pneumoconioses, extrinsic allergic alveolitis, lung damage due to irritant gases, fumes, and smoke constitute the occupational lung diseases that affect the lung parenchyma. The pneumoconioses are diseases resulting from the accumulation of dust in the lungs. The ILO has established a standardized system for classification of these pneumoconioses that includes both descriptions of diffuse lung opacities and pleural disease. The most common of the fibrogenic pneumoconioses are silicosis, CWP, and asbestosis. The former two entities are characterized radiographically by the presence of small rounded opacities or nodules in the lung parenchyma. Eggshell calcification may occur in lymph nodes, and eventually the diseases may be complicated by the development of large massive areas of fibrosis in the upper lung zones. Asbestosis, on the other hand, demonstrates small irregular or linear opacities usually confined to the bases of the lungs. It is associated with significant respiratory symptoms and disability. High resolution CT has proved useful in characterizing the parenchymal changes and also in identifying early disease in all of these entities. Berylliosis is a systemic disorder that in its chronic form produces granulomatous disease in the lungs. Radiographically it is characterized by the development of either small rounded or occasionally irregular linear opacities usually confined to the bases. Chemical pneumonitis results from exposure to toxic fumes. The acute reaction may produce diffuse lung injury characterized by air-space disease typical of pulmonary edema. In the chronic form, bronchiolitis obliterans supervenes. This usually is associated with either a normal radiograph or evidence of hyperinflation. Finally, hypersensitivity pneumonitis or extrinsic allergic alveolitis is a response of the lung to inhalation of antigens that may be present in the workplace. Either acute, subacute, or chronic disease may result. In the chronic form, a diffuse reticulonodular pattern with or without associated lymphadenopathy is characteristic.
 ...
PMID:Occupational lung disease. 187 Dec 62


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>