May 23, 200817 yr Carbon nanofibers may mimic asbestos—and not in a good way A number of studies have looked at the effect of carbon nanofibers on cultured cells, but the authors of the new paper took the studies into a more directly relevant model: the mouse. They injected carbon nanofibers, along with tangled carbon nanotubes and graphite powder, into the peritoneal cavity of mice; asbestos was also injected as a control. At two time intervals later, they washed the cavity out with saline and sampled the cells present in the wash. Two samples of untangled nanofibers produced an inflammatory response that was statistically indistinguishable from that triggered by asbestos. When examined at the cellular level, tangled nanofibers were safely ingested and stored in macrophages. In contrast, the fibers caused what the authors termed "frustrated phagocytosis," where the macrophage appears as if it had been pierced by the fiber while trying to engulf it. Sections of the peritoneal cavity wall of these animals reveal the presence of large numbers of immune cells. The authors caution that these results are not yet conclusive, as we lack two additional bits of data. This work hasn't demonstrated that the nanofibers actually reach the lung or cross into the body side of the organ when ingested via breathing. On the other end of the process, the researchers haven't demonstrated that this inflammation ultimately produces mesothelioma. It does, however, suggest that studies directed towards finding out should be pursued as soon as possible and that, in the meantime, a cautious approach to nanofiber exposure may be warranted.
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