1
|
Fantone S, Tossetta G, Cianfruglia L, Frontini A, Armeni T, Procopio AD, Pugnaloni A, Gualtieri AF, Marzioni D. Mechanisms of action of mineral fibres in a placental syncytiotrophoblast model: An in vitro toxicology study. Chem Biol Interact 2024; 390:110895. [PMID: 38301883 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2024.110895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Asbestos has been widely used due to its unique characteristics. It is known that exposure to asbestos causes serious damage to health but one species, chrysolite, is still used because it is considered less toxic and not biopersistent in some countries. The aim of our study was to investigate if cellular process underlying the proliferation, differentiation and cell death of placental tissues could be modify in presence of asbestos fibres (50 μg/ml final concentration), long chrysolite fibres (CHR-L) and short chrysolite fibres (CHR-S), using BeWo cell line, an in vitro model that mimics the syncytiotrophoblast (STB), the outer layer of placental villi. Our data demonstrated that none of the fibres analysed alter syncytiotrophoblast formation but all of them induce ROS formation and reduced cell proliferation. Moreover, we showed that only CHR-L fibre induced was able to induce irreversible DNA alterations that carried cells to apoptosis. In fact, BeWo cells exposed to CHR-L fibre showed a significant increase in cleaved CASP3 protein, a marker of apoptosis. These data suggest that CHR-L may induce death of the placental villi leading to impaired placental development. The impairment of placental development is the basis of many gestational pathologies such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth retardation. Since these pathologies are very dangerous for foetal and maternal life, we suggest to the gynaecologists to carefully evaluate the area of maternal residence, the working environment, the food used, and the materials used daily to avoid contact with these fibres as much as possible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Fantone
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Giovanni Tossetta
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Laura Cianfruglia
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Andrea Frontini
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Tatiana Armeni
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126, Ancona, Italy
| | - Antonio D Procopio
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, DISCLIMO, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy; Clinical Laboratory and Molecular Diagnostic, IRCCS INRCA, Ancona, Italy
| | - Armanda Pugnaloni
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, DISCLIMO, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Chemical and Earth Sciences Department, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Daniela Marzioni
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Malferrari D, Bernini F, Di Giuseppe D, Scognamiglio V, Gualtieri AF. Al-Substituted Tobermorites: An Effective Cation Exchanger Synthesized from "End-of-Waste" Materials. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:1694-1702. [PMID: 35071864 PMCID: PMC8772311 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c04193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The policies to meet the "zero waste" regime and transition to sustainable circular economy can no longer ignore the use of wastes in place of natural resources, and these daunting and vital societal challenges are nowadays being faced by several nations. The main objective of this work was to search waste materials suitable for a quick and environmentally friendly production of a nanoporous geomaterial able to trap toxic metals at the solid/liquid interface. More specifically, the end-of-waste from the thermal inertization of cement-asbestos and glass powder from domestic glass containers have been employed as sources for the hydrothermal synthesis of a tobermorite-rich material (TRM) successfully tested for the selective removal of Pb2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, and Ni2+ from aqueous solutions. The synthesis was carried out in alkaline solution under mild hydrothermal conditions (120 °C) within 24 h. The quantitative phase analyses of the TRM carried out by applying the Rietveld method showed the occurrence of a large amount of well-crystallized 11 Å Al-substituted tobermorites and an amorphous phase and a lower content of aragonite and calcite. Chemical analyses and thermogravimetric measurements coupled with simultaneous evolved gas mass spectrometry highlighted that Al3+ for Si4+ substitutions in the wollastonite-like tetrahedral chains of tobermorites are balanced by the occurrence of Ca2+, Na+, and K+ cations in the interlayer rather than by (OH)- for O2- substitutions in the CaO polyhedra. Time-dependent removal tests clearly indicated that metal cations are selectively adsorbed depending on their concentration in solution. Moreover, the kinetic curves showed that the removal of metals from solution is fast and the equilibrium is almost reached in the first 8 h.
Collapse
|
3
|
Gualtieri AF, Zoboli A, Filaferro M, Benassi M, Scarfì S, Mirata S, Avallone R, Vitale G, Bailey M, Harper M, Di Giuseppe D. In vitro toxicity of fibrous glaucophane. Toxicology 2021; 454:152743. [PMID: 33675871 DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2021.152743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The health hazard represented by the exposure to asbestos may also concern other minerals with asbestos-like crystal habit. One of these potentially hazardous minerals is fibrous glaucophane. Fibrous glaucophane is a major component of blueschist rocks of California (USA) currently mined for construction purposes. Dust generated by the excavation activities might potentially expose workers and the general public. The aim of this study was to determine whether fibrous glaucophane induces in vitro toxicity effects on lung cells by assessing the biological responses of cultured human pleural mesothelial cells (Met-5A) and THP-1 derived macrophages exposed for 24 h and 48 h to glaucophane fibres. Crocidolite asbestos was tested for comparison. The experimental configuration of the in vitro tests included a cell culture without fibres (i.e., control), cell cultures treated with 50 μg/mL (i.e., 15.6 μg/cm2) of crocidolite fibres and 25-50-100 μg/mL (i.e., 7.8-15.6-31.2 μg/cm2) of glaucophane fibres. Results showed that fibrous glaucophane may induce a decrease in cell viability and an increase in extra-cellular lactate dehydrogenase release in the tested cell cultures in a concentration dependent mode. Moreover, it was found that fibrous glaucophane has a potency to cause oxidative stress. The biological reactivity of fibrous glaucophane confirms that it is a toxic agent and, although it apparently induces lower toxic effects compared to crocidolite, exposure to this fibre may be responsible for the development of lung diseases in exposed unprotected workers and population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Alessandro Zoboli
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Monica Filaferro
- Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Monia Benassi
- Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Sonia Scarfì
- Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
| | - Serena Mirata
- Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences, University of Genova, Genova, Italy
| | - Rossella Avallone
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Giovanni Vitale
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Mark Bailey
- Asbestos TEM Laboratories, 600 Bancroft Way, Suite A, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Martin Harper
- Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
| | - Dario Di Giuseppe
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|