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Suppressive Effects of Asbestos Exposure on the Human Immune Surveillance System

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Allergy and Immunotoxicology in Occupational Health

Abstract

Asbestos exposure causes malignancies such as mesothelioma and lung cancer. Asbestos induces carcinogenic activity, and its fibers may cause immune-modifying effects that impair the immune surveillance system in regard to cancer cell monitoring. Impairment of natural killer (NK) cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), T helper 1 (Th1) cells, and regulatory T (Treg) cells was investigated using cell lines and freshly isolated peripheral blood immune cells derived from health donors, as well as peripheral immune cells from asbestos-exposed patients with pleural plaque and malignant mesothelioma (MM). All findings showed that asbestos exposure caused reduction of antitumor immunity. Therefore, the carcinogenic and immune-modifying effects indicate that the immune surveillance system in relation to cancerous cells may be impaired by asbestos exposure.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. Minako Katoh, Naomi Miyahara, Satomi Hatada, Keiko Yamashita, Keiko Kimura, Tomoko Sueishi, and Misao Kuroki for their technical assistance. All the experimental findings performed in the Department of Hygiene, Kawasaki Medical School, were supported by the Special Coordination Fund for Promoting Science and Technology grant H18-1-3-3-1; JSPS KAKENHI grants 17790375, 19790431, 20890270, 22790550, 23790679, 24590770, and 25860470; Kawasaki Medical School Project grants 29-403, 19-407 M, 20-402O, 20411I, 32-107, 21-401, 22A29, 22B1, 23P3, 23B66, 24B39, and 25B41; the Kawasaki Foundation for Medical Science and Medical Welfare (2007 and 2009); and the Ryobi Teien Memorial Foundation (2009 and 2010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hygiene, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, Kurashiki, Okayama, 701-0192, Japan

    Yasumitsu Nishimura, Naoko Kumagai-Takei, Hidenori Matsuzaki, Suni Lee, Shoko Yamamoto, Tamayo Hatayama, Kei Yoshitome & Takemi Otsuki

  2. Department of Biofunctional Chemistry, Division of Bioscience, Okayama University Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Tsushima-Naka, Kita-Ku, Okayama, 7008530, Japan

    Megumi Maeda

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  1. Yasumitsu Nishimura
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  2. Naoko Kumagai-Takei
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  3. Megumi Maeda
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  4. Hidenori Matsuzaki
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  5. Suni Lee
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  7. Tamayo Hatayama
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  8. Kei Yoshitome
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  9. Takemi Otsuki
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Correspondence to Takemi Otsuki .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hygiene, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Japan

    Takemi Otsuki

  2. Immuntotoxicology and Allergy Unit & Occupational Biorepository, Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT), “G. D’Annunzio” University Foundation, Chieti, Italy

    Claudia Petrarca

  3. Immuntotoxicology and Allergy Unit & Occupational Biorepository, Center of Excellence on Aging and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT), “G. D’Annunzio” University Foundation, Chieti, Italy

    Mario Di Gioacchino

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Nishimura, Y. et al. (2017). Suppressive Effects of Asbestos Exposure on the Human Immune Surveillance System. In: Otsuki, T., Petrarca, C., Di Gioacchino, M. (eds) Allergy and Immunotoxicology in Occupational Health. Current Topics in Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0351-6_1

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