Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health
Abstract
In this study 52 workers from an asbestos factory were examined. They were placed in three groups: Group 1, directly exposed to asbestos with X-ray changes of the lungs indicative of asbestosis, Group 2 also directly exposed to asbestos, but without X-ray changes, and Group 3 not directly exposed to asbestos. The lungs and pleura of all the examined workers were X-rayed in the anteroposterior projection. Sputum samples were taken to determine the presence of asbestos bodies, and the level of immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM and IgA) was determined in sera. In workers exposed to asbestos, a correlation between the number of asbestos bodies and X-ray changes was not found. The level of immunoglobulins in Group 1 workers was significantly higher than in Groups 2 and 3. In the former group, there were significantly more workers with increased IgG level than in the latter groups.Ispitivanja su obuhvatila 52 radnika azbestnog pogona podeljena u tri grupe (I grupa radnika, direktno izloženih azbestu, sa rendgenografskim promenama u smislu azbestoze, II grupa takođe direktno izloženih radnika bez RDG pramena i III grupa radnika koji nisu direktno izloženi azbestu). Svim ispitivanim radnicima napravljena je rendgenografija pluća i pleure, određivan je broj azbestnih telašaca u sputumu i nivo serumskih imunoglobulina (IgG, IgM i IgA). Kod ispitivane grupe azbestnih radnika izloženih azbestu nije utvrđena povezanost između broja azbestnih telašaca u sputumu sa RDG promenama i imunološkim statusom. Utvrđen je statistički značajno viši nivo imunoglobulina G kod I grupe radnika u odnosu na II i III grupu prethodno kategoriziranih radnika. Signifikantno je veći broj radnika I grupe sa povećanim nivoom IgG
