Exposure to Crystalline Silica or Treatment with Chlorphentermine Increases Vitamin E Levels in Rat Alveolar Lavage Materials

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bowman L ; Miles PR ; Reasor MJ
• Description:
  Previous studies have shown that vitamin E may be an integral part of lung surfactant and may function to protect this material from oxidant damage. Therefore, we measured the vitamin E levels in alveolar lavage materials from rats exposed to crystalline silica or treated with chlorphentermine (CP) , two treatments that are known to increase surfactant phospholipids (PL) by different mechanisms. Silica exposure leads to increased PL synthesis, and CP treatment causes a reduction in PL degradation. Two different silica preparations, HCl-washed and unwashed silica, were used because exposure to each of them leads to different degrees of phospholipidosis. Exposure to HCl-washed silica results in a more than 17-fold increase in lavage PL and protein levels and a 12.2-fold increase in the amount of vitamin E. Exposure to unwashed silica leads to an approximately 7-fold increase in PL and proteins and a 5.8- fold increase in lavage vitamin E. Following treatment of rats with CP, there is a 15- to 19- fold increase in lavage PL and proteins and a 13.6-fold increase in vitamin E. When the results are expressed as micrograms vitamin E per milligram of lavage PL or protein, there is not much difference between controls and each treatment group. Because surfactant synthesis occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum, we also measured vitamin E in lung microsomes. Both silica exposure and CP treatment also lead to 1.8- to 2.5-fold increases, respectively, in the lung microsomal levels of vitamin E. These results demonstrate that alveolar lavage vitamin E levels are elevated along with lavage PL and proteins, and lung microsomal vitamin E levels are increased following exposure of rats to silica or treatment of the animals with CP. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Silicates Laboratories Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Compounds
• Keywords:
  Laboratory-animals Lung-cells Lung-fibrosis Lung-function Lung-irritants Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-system Silicates Silicon-compounds Vitamins

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• ISSN:
  1528-7394
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  49
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034127
• Citation:
  J Toxicol Environ Health A 1996 Dec; 49(5):511-523
• Contact Point Address:
  Philip R. Miles, PhD, NIOSH, Physiology Section, Rm. 207, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A: Current Issues
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:300e79db16bcdde73c0b8f2190da52306dd215984d1ecdcde79eae56cbd7cd6a630f14f1b1827e832fad45426e01e152f50caa5f9261dd9ca5ba60ec533ed595
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/189492/cdc_189492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 302.63 KB ]