Pathogenesis of asbestos-associated diseases

Our plain-English summary of Pathogenesis of asbestos-associated diseases, by M.E. Meeks (The New England Journal of Medicine, 1982).

The study

• Author: M.E. Meeks
• Journal: The New England Journal of Medicine
• Published: 1982;307(24):1526-7
• Type of article: Letter
• Read it: PubMed
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M nos. 001795, 001836).

In plain English

This item is a letter to the editor, not a research study. Writing from Canada's Environmental Health Directorate, the author responded to a review article by Craighead and Mossman on how asbestos-associated diseases develop. The author stated that the review contained several inaccurate statements about the literature on ingested asbestos. First, the author wrote that a statement about fibers in the kidneys of rats exposed to synthetic fibers did not come from the cited source, which reported a study of ingested asbestos in rats. Second, a cited study found no fibers in the intercellular spaces or within the mucosal cells of the colon and ileum by electron microscopy, so the review should not have presented fibers entering the mucosa as that study's conclusion. Third, the author disputed the review's summary of animal feeding studies. In the one study the review treated as an exception, a statistically significant increase in malignant tumors was seen only in organs other than the gastrointestinal tract. Fourth, the author noted that the review had not considered epidemiologic studies of gastrointestinal cancer in populations drinking asbestos-containing water. In a printed reply, Craighead maintained that the conclusions were correct.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Letter to the editor (correspondence) criticizing a published review article; no original data
• Who was studied: No study population. The letter discusses published literature on ingested asbestos, including rat feeding studies and drinking-water epidemiologic studies, as cited in Craighead and Mossman's review
• Exposure: Ingested asbestos, including asbestos in drinking water
• Main results:
  • The author stated that the review's statement about fibers found in the glomeruli and tubules of rats exposed in inhalation chambers to synthetic fibers was not taken from the cited reference 119. That reference reported a study of chronic effects of ingested asbestos in rats
  • The author wrote that, in a cited study, no fibers were detected in the intercellular spaces or within the mucosal cells of the colon and ileum on electron microscopy. Fibers entering the mucosa should therefore not be presented as that study's conclusion
  • The author called incorrect the review's conclusion that, with one exception, animal feeding studies failed to show more gut tumors. In the excepted study (reference 121), a statistically significant increase in malignant tumors was observed only in organs other than the gastrointestinal tract
  • The author stated that asbestos bodies and uncoated fibers found in organs of occupationally exposed people may have been transported there from the lung, so their presence does not clearly support conclusions about ingested asbestos
  • The author noted that the review did not consider epidemiologic studies of gastrointestinal cancer incidence in populations drinking water containing asbestos
  • In a printed reply, Craighead stated that the review's conclusions were correct and that it had referenced more comprehensive reviews. The reply also called the drinking-water evidence less than compelling
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the review contained several inaccurate statements about the literature on ingested asbestos, and that any assumption of lymphatic or hematogenous transfer of fibers from the lungs should be clearly stated

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• The pathogenesis of asbestos-associated diseases — J.E. Craighead, B.T. Mossman (1982)
• Mass and number of fibres in the pathogenesis of asbestos-related lung disease in rats — J.M. Davis, S.T. Beckett, et al. (1978)
• Multiple roles of oxidants in the pathogenesis of asbestos-induced diseases — A. Shukla, M. Gulumian, et al. (2003)
• IDO-Mediated Tryptophan Degradation in the Pathogenesis of Malignant Tumor Disease — R. Sucher, K. Kurz, et al. (2010)
• Biological responses to asbestos inhalation and pathogenesis of asbestos-related benign and malignant disease — E. Solbes, R.W. Harper (2018)
• Iron overload as a major targetable pathogenesis of asbestos-induced mesothelial carcinogenesis — S. Toyokuni (2014)

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