Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil
ABSTRACT Objective: Silicosis is a pneumoconiosis characterized by fibrosis of the lung parenchyma caused by the inhalation of silica particles. Silica dust inhalation is associated with inflammation and induction of oxidative stress in the lungs. This oxidative stress affects telomeres, which are...
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| Format: | Article |
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Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132024000600605&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| author | Marcos César Santos de Castro Lucas de Carvalho Costa Kaio Cezar Rodrigues Salum Hermano Albuquerque de Castro Patrícia Canto Ribeiro Walter Costa Angela Santos Ferreira Nani Fabiana Barzotto Kohlrausch |
| author_facet | Marcos César Santos de Castro Lucas de Carvalho Costa Kaio Cezar Rodrigues Salum Hermano Albuquerque de Castro Patrícia Canto Ribeiro Walter Costa Angela Santos Ferreira Nani Fabiana Barzotto Kohlrausch |
| author_sort | Marcos César Santos de Castro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Objective: Silicosis is a pneumoconiosis characterized by fibrosis of the lung parenchyma caused by the inhalation of silica particles. Silica dust inhalation is associated with inflammation and induction of oxidative stress in the lungs. This oxidative stress affects telomeres, which are short tandem DNA repeats that cap the end of linear chromosomes. We aimed to determine whether telomere length (TL) correlates with silicosis or severity of silicosis in silica-exposed workers in Brazil. Methods: We included 200 men in southeastern Brazil: 100 with silicosis and 100 who had not been exposed to silica. We extracted DNA from buccal cells and assessed TL by multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The median TL was significantly shorter in the patients with silicosis than in the unexposed controls (p < 0.0001), although it did not differ between the patients with simple silicosis and those with complicated silicosis (p = 0.961). We also found that, in patients with silicosis, TL was influenced by smoking (p = 0.034) and by a history of personal protective equipment use in the workplace (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Silica exposure appears to have an impact on TL, which was found to be shorter in patients with silicosis than in unexposed controls. Further studies are needed in order to confirm the impact that oxidative stress caused by silica inhalation has on telomeres. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9394a8e6e7ab4a9990aca700bdbda468 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1806-3756 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisiologia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia |
| spelling | doaj-art-9394a8e6e7ab4a9990aca700bdbda4682025-01-21T07:40:30ZengSociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e TisiologiaJornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia1806-37562025-01-0150610.36416/1806-3756/e20240318Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern BrazilMarcos César Santos de Castrohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1209-6690Lucas de Carvalho Costahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4841-3448Kaio Cezar Rodrigues Salumhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7079-6601Hermano Albuquerque de Castrohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1191-5671Patrícia Canto Ribeirohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2731-331XWalter Costahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0831-8585Angela Santos Ferreira Nanihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1331-723XFabiana Barzotto Kohlrauschhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5992-2905ABSTRACT Objective: Silicosis is a pneumoconiosis characterized by fibrosis of the lung parenchyma caused by the inhalation of silica particles. Silica dust inhalation is associated with inflammation and induction of oxidative stress in the lungs. This oxidative stress affects telomeres, which are short tandem DNA repeats that cap the end of linear chromosomes. We aimed to determine whether telomere length (TL) correlates with silicosis or severity of silicosis in silica-exposed workers in Brazil. Methods: We included 200 men in southeastern Brazil: 100 with silicosis and 100 who had not been exposed to silica. We extracted DNA from buccal cells and assessed TL by multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The median TL was significantly shorter in the patients with silicosis than in the unexposed controls (p < 0.0001), although it did not differ between the patients with simple silicosis and those with complicated silicosis (p = 0.961). We also found that, in patients with silicosis, TL was influenced by smoking (p = 0.034) and by a history of personal protective equipment use in the workplace (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Silica exposure appears to have an impact on TL, which was found to be shorter in patients with silicosis than in unexposed controls. Further studies are needed in order to confirm the impact that oxidative stress caused by silica inhalation has on telomeres.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132024000600605&lng=en&tlng=enSilicosisOxidative stressInflammationTelomere |
| spellingShingle | Marcos César Santos de Castro Lucas de Carvalho Costa Kaio Cezar Rodrigues Salum Hermano Albuquerque de Castro Patrícia Canto Ribeiro Walter Costa Angela Santos Ferreira Nani Fabiana Barzotto Kohlrausch Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia Silicosis Oxidative stress Inflammation Telomere |
| title | Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil |
| title_full | Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil |
| title_short | Silica-exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals: a pilot study in a population in southeastern Brazil |
| title_sort | silica exposed patients with silicosis show shorter telomeres than do unexposed individuals a pilot study in a population in southeastern brazil |
| topic | Silicosis Oxidative stress Inflammation Telomere |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1806-37132024000600605&lng=en&tlng=en |
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