Mystery of the mechanism of cancer development due to asbestos exposure: What has been revealed from the geochemical characteristics of iron-containing proteins that coat asbestos fibers in smokers and non-smokers
Summary
A research group led by Special-Appointment Professor Eizo Nakamura of the Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, isolated asbestos bodies from the lung tissue of malignant pleural mesothelioma patients (smokers and non-smokers) after pneumonectomy, and compared and observed these using chemical methods. Differences in the morphology and chemical composition of asbestos bodies between smokers and non-smokers were observed. Asbestos bodies in smokers were smaller, denser, and iron-rich than in nonsmokers. It was revealed that the iron in the iron-containing proteins that make up all the asbestos bodies analyzed is composed of ferrihydrite, which has extremely low crystallinity among iron hydroxides. This suggests that ferrihydrite remains wrapped in a shell of iron-containing proteins, suppressing the generation of free iron ions. Therefore, it is unlikely that iron in asbestos bodies acts as a catalyst to generate active oxygen, suggesting that active oxygen is not the cause of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
For more details, see the Okayama University press release [ JP | EN ].
Reference
Title: An investigation of the internal morphology of asbestos ferruginous bodies: constraining their role in the onset of malignant mesothelioma
Journal: Particle and Fibre Toxicology
Authors: Maya-Liliana Avramescu, Christian Potiszil, Tak Kunihiro, Kazunori Okabe, and Eizo Nakamura
DOI: 10.1186/s12989-023-00522-0
