Initial Deposition Pattern of Inhaled Minerals and Consequent Pathogenic Events at the Alveolar Level

Occupational and environmental exposures to mineral dusts such as asbestos and silica are known to result in the development of interstitial fibrotic lung disease.',' Asbestosis and silicosis are well known examples of this type of disease. These are slow, progressive processes that may take ten years of chronic exposure and several decades post-exposure before clinical manifestation.'.2 The pathogenesis of the human disease'-3 and animal models of chronic exposure24 have been well described. Despite years of investigation, the initial pathogenic events and basic cellular mechanisms that lead to the development of interstitial lung disease remain largely To address this issue, this paper is intended to describe some of our recent findings on initial particle deposition patterns, epithelial cell-particle interactions, mechanisms of membrane toxicity. macrophage-particle interactions, and measurements of initial anatomic lesions.