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Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 5/2014

01-09-2014 | Review

Silica exposure and altered regulation of autoimmunity

Authors: Suni Lee, Hidenori Matsuzaki, Naoko Kumagai-Takei, Kei Yoshitome, Megumi Maeda, Ying Chen, Masayasu Kusaka, Kozo Urakami, Hiroaki Hayashi, Wataru Fujimoto, Yasumitsu Nishimura, Takemi Otsuki

Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine | Issue 5/2014

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Abstract

Silica particles and asbestos fibers, which are known as typical causatives of pneumoconiosis, induce lung fibrosis. Moreover, silicosis patients often complicate with autoimmune diseases, and asbestos-exposed patients suffer from malignant diseases such as pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. We have been conducting experimental studies to investigate altered regulation of self-tolerance caused by silica exposure, including analyses using specimens such as plasma and immunocompetent cells obtained from silicosis patients, as a means of examining the supposition that silica exposure induces molecular and cellular biological alterations of immune cells. These approaches have resulted in the detection of several specific autoantibodies, alterations of CD95/Fas and its related molecules, and evidence of chronic activation of responder T cells and regulatory T cells following silica exposure. In this review, we present details of our investigations as an introduction to scientific approaches examining the immunological effects of environmental and occupational substances.
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Metadata
Title
Silica exposure and altered regulation of autoimmunity
Authors
Suni Lee
Hidenori Matsuzaki
Naoko Kumagai-Takei
Kei Yoshitome
Megumi Maeda
Ying Chen
Masayasu Kusaka
Kozo Urakami
Hiroaki Hayashi
Wataru Fujimoto
Yasumitsu Nishimura
Takemi Otsuki
Publication date
01-09-2014
Publisher
Springer Japan
Published in
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine / Issue 5/2014
Print ISSN: 1342-078X
Electronic ISSN: 1347-4715
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-014-0403-9

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