Abstract
Recent research on the SiO 2 -liberated fibrogenic macrophage factors and on the composition of the silicotic rat lung is described. At least two separate factors are postulated: (i) a macrophage-RNAase which is partly inactivated by SiO 2 and, hence, mRNA in the adjoining fibroblasts stays undegraded and the protein synthesis is consequently increased and (ii) a ‘direct’ fibrogenic factor which supports the protein synthesis in the fibroblasts. There is evidence for increased translatable RNA in experimentally induced silicotic rat lung. It is suggested that these factors are breakdown products of the macrophages, released and perhaps modified on phagocytosis SiO 2 .
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