Reaction of mineral dusts with primary lung fibroblast cultures.

The complex metabolism of rabbit lung fibroblast cultures maintained over 24 days in vitro and their interaction with the fibrogenic group of asbestos minerals is reviewed. The differential effects of nine dusts given as a single dose to 3-day-old fibroblast cultures which were then analyzed for DNA, protein and cell mat hydroxyproline after 3 weeks are discussed. A comparison is made of the ability of these minerals to promote reticulin deposition in vivo following instillation into rats with the ability of each mineral to alter cell mat hydroxyproline levels in fibroblast cultures. Because this comparison is poor for some of the minerals investigated, it is concluded that with the current methodology the fibroblast cultures do not provide an adequate in vitro test system for assessing the potential fibrogenicity of a mineral in vivo.