Pulmonary alveolar macrophage cytotoxicity investigation of irregular shape mineral dusts / 生物医学工程学杂志

ABSTRACT

In order to study the damage mechanism of mineral dusts on the pulmonary alveolar macrophages (AM), the changes of their death ratio, malandialdthyde (MDA) content and activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. And the technique of cell culture in vitro was used to investigate the cytotoxicity of six mineral dusts (twelve crystal habits) from twelve mineral deposits. The results showed that wollstonite and clinoptilolite had no AM cytotoxicity while other fibrous and grainy mineral dusts could damage pulmonary AM in various degrees. The cytotoxicity of fibrous mineral dusts was greater than that of the grainy ones, and the cytotoxicity of dusts was positively correlated with the active OH- content in dusts, but not necessarily so with its SiO2 content. The high pH values produced by dust was unfavorable for the cells survival and the dusts with a low bio-resistance were safe for cells. The content of variable valence elements in dusts could influence their cytotoxicity and the surface charge of dusts was not a stable factor on their toxicity. It indicates that the shape of mineral dusts is one of the factors affecting cytotoxicity, and that the cytotoxicity of mineral dusts mainly depends on their properties.