TY - JOUR
T1 - Indium concentration in serum is an excellent predictor for assessing accumulated indium concentration in the lungs
AU - Hirata, Miyuki
AU - Nakano, Makiko
AU - Tanaka, Akiyo
AU - Omae, Kazuyuki
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Occupational Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japan Society for Occupational Health.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether indium in serum (In-S) is an appropriate parameter for assessing accumulated indium concentration in the lungs (In-L). METHODS: During our approximately 15-year Japanese cohort follow-up, five male indium-tin oxide (ITO) or/and indium trioxide-exposed workers underwent lung surgical procedures to treat lung diseases or to confirm a diagnosis of lung impairments. We measured In-L of these Cases 1-5 and were able to assess the relationship between In-L and the most recent In-S. Another 1 Japanese case (Case 6) exposed to indium trioxide and indium hydroxide was referred from an article. RESULTS: Cases 1 and 3 had lung cancer, Case 2 suffered from recurrent pneumothorax, and Case 4 had interstitial pneumonia with mild emphysema. Case 5 had severe emphysema with pulmonary hypertension and underwent bilateral lung transplantation. In Cases 1-5, In-L and In-S ranged from 3.4 to 161.2 µg/g wet weight and 0.7 to 60.4 ng/mL, respectively, and In-L/In-S ratios ranged from 2484 to 4857. The slope of the single regression equation with zero intercept was 2767 and the correlation coefficient was 0.995. In contrast, Case 6 was extraordinarily outlying, but the reason is unclear. CONCLUSIONS: In-S is an excellent predictor for assessing indium load in the lungs in ITO or/and indium trioxide-exposed workers. However, number of cases was only five and not enough to authorize definite conclusion. It is desirable to add more cases to confirm our conclusion.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To clarify whether indium in serum (In-S) is an appropriate parameter for assessing accumulated indium concentration in the lungs (In-L). METHODS: During our approximately 15-year Japanese cohort follow-up, five male indium-tin oxide (ITO) or/and indium trioxide-exposed workers underwent lung surgical procedures to treat lung diseases or to confirm a diagnosis of lung impairments. We measured In-L of these Cases 1-5 and were able to assess the relationship between In-L and the most recent In-S. Another 1 Japanese case (Case 6) exposed to indium trioxide and indium hydroxide was referred from an article. RESULTS: Cases 1 and 3 had lung cancer, Case 2 suffered from recurrent pneumothorax, and Case 4 had interstitial pneumonia with mild emphysema. Case 5 had severe emphysema with pulmonary hypertension and underwent bilateral lung transplantation. In Cases 1-5, In-L and In-S ranged from 3.4 to 161.2 µg/g wet weight and 0.7 to 60.4 ng/mL, respectively, and In-L/In-S ratios ranged from 2484 to 4857. The slope of the single regression equation with zero intercept was 2767 and the correlation coefficient was 0.995. In contrast, Case 6 was extraordinarily outlying, but the reason is unclear. CONCLUSIONS: In-S is an excellent predictor for assessing indium load in the lungs in ITO or/and indium trioxide-exposed workers. However, number of cases was only five and not enough to authorize definite conclusion. It is desirable to add more cases to confirm our conclusion.
KW - correlation study
KW - indium in serum
KW - indium in the lungs
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U2 - 10.1002/1348-9585.12207
DO - 10.1002/1348-9585.12207
M3 - Article
C2 - 33626221
AN - SCOPUS:85102095377
VL - 63
SP - e12207
JO - Journal of Occupational Health
JF - Journal of Occupational Health
SN - 1341-9145
IS - 1
ER -