Toxicity and Carcinogenicity Mechanisms of Fibrous Antigorite

Venera Cardile, Laura Lombardo, Elena Belluso, Annamaria Panico, Silvana Capella and Michael Balazy
Additional contact information
Venera Cardile: Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
Laura Lombardo: Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Catania, Italy
Elena Belluso: Department of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, CNR IGG-Sezione I Torino, Italy
Annamaria Panico: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Silvana Capella: Department of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, CNR IGG-Sezione I Torino, Italy
Michael Balazy: Department of Pharmacology, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

IJERPH, 2007, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: We studied the effects of fibrous antigorite on mesothelial MeT-5A and monocyte-macrophage J774 cell lines to further understand cellular mechanisms induced by asbestos fibers leading to lung damage and cancer. Antigorite is a mineral with asbestiform properties, which tends to associate with chrysotile or tremolite, and frequently occurs as the predominant mineral in the veins of several serpentinite rocks found abundantly in the Western Alps. Particles containing antigorite are more abundant in the breathing air of this region than those typically found in urban ambient air. Exposure of MeT-5A and J774 cells to fibrous antigorite at concentrations of 5-100 ?g/ml for 72 hr induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity. Antigorite also stimulated the ROS production, induced the generation of nitrite and PGE 2 . MeT-5A cells were more sensitive to antigorite than J774 cells. The results of this study revealed that the fibrous antigorite stimulates cyclooxygenase and formation of hydroxyl and nitric oxide radicals. These changes represent early cellular responses to antigorite fibers, which lead to a host of pathological and neoplastic conditions because free radicals and PGE 2 play important roles as mediators of tumor pathogenesis. Understanding the mechanisms of the cellular responses to antigorite and other asbestos particles should be helpful in designing rational prevention and treatment approaches.

Keywords: Antigorite; asbestos fibers; free radicals; inflammation; lung cancer; oxidative stress; toxicity; cyclooxygenase (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/4/1/1/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/4/1/1/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:4:y:2007:i:1:p:1-9:d:2308

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().