[Relationship between the physiochemical properties of asbestos and pulmonary fibrosis].

The work presents a review of the literature on the effect of physiochemical properties on the intensity of pulmonary fibrosis. Exposure to asbestos fibres induces inflammatory processes which contribute to collagen deposition in the lung tissue. The toxicity of asbestos fibres depends on physiochemical properties of asbestos. Owing to their advantageous aerodynamics, straight needle-like amphiboles can penetrate much easier into the pulmonary tissue than curly serpentine fibres. With magnesium as its main cation, chrysotile has an unstable structure and tends towards the fragmentation into smaller particles. Therefore, its phagocytosis by macrophages and its clearance from the lung tissue are more effective than those of amphiboles. On the other hand, chrysotile undergoes longitudinal fragmentation into thin elementary particles, thus, it proliferates easier respirable fibres in the pulmonary tissue. Fibrosis induced by long fibres (L < 5 microns) is more extensive than that produced by short fibres (L < 5 microns) because of incomplete phagocytosis by macrophages which releases a stimulus to the synthesis of fibronectin and collagen.