Asbestos is a fibrous material which has got excellent properties of heat retardation, electrical insulation and hardness with flexibility at the same time. Inhalation of these fibers by human beings results in lodging of asbestos fibers in the linings of lung and air sacs and these fibers remain there for several years or in some cases it was found that these fibers lodged themselves for ever inside the body of the host. This lodging of fibers results in irritation and inflammation that have been linked to a range of illnesses, including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. The worst part of these diseases is that all of these are incurable. The treatment is aimed to give relief from the symptoms of these diseases.
The biggest challenge in front of the scientist is the invention of sure shot treatment method for these diseases which in turn depends on finding the reason behind the disease which is very confusing as it has been seen that different people exposed to the same amount of asbestos dust do not contract these diseases at the same rate.
New research of Italian scientists shows that that some people’s genetic inability to repair DNA damage at the cellular level may raise their risk of mesothelioma. The study was done by testing polymorphisms (SNPs), or variants, in 15 different genes that could be involved in causing malignant pleural mesothelioma. Total 403 people from Casale Monferrato and Turin were tested of which 220 were mesothelioma patients and 296 were controls. The researchers found that two genes involved in DNA repair – XRCC1 and ERCC1 – were associated with mesothelioma. It was found that the risk of disease increased with the number of XRCC1 or ERCC1 alleles. The team concluded by saying that the association of mesothelioma and DNA genes results in an increased risk of diseases due to asbestos exposure.