Semin Respir Crit Care Med 2008; 29(6): 670-679
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1101277
© Thieme Medical Publishers

Exposures and Idiopathic Lung Disease

Varsha Taskar1 , David Coultas1
  • 1Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, Texas
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
16 February 2009 (online)

ABSTRACT

Of the idiopathic lung diseases, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and sarcoidosis have been the focus of a growing number of epidemiological investigations on the risk of environmental and occupational exposures. To date, the consistency of epidemiological evidence is suggestive of a causal relationship between several environmental exposures and IPF, with the strongest evidence for cigarette smoking and metal dust. Current knowledge about pathogenesis provides further support for a causal link. However, scant epidemiological evidence for dose–response and temporality weaken the case for making causal inferences. In contrast to IPF, the quantity of epidemiological evidence for environmental exposures and sarcoidosis is smaller. Two studies provide consistent evidence for exposures to agricultural dust and musty odor/mold/mildew, and studies among military personnel and firefighters suggest mixed dust and fume exposures as risk factors for sarcoidosis. Although studies of the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis also provide evidence supporting environmental causation, more epidemiological studies are needed to establish consistency of associations, dose–response, and temporality. Future investigations, of gene–environment interaction offer the potential for strengthening the evidence of causation between several environmental and occupational exposures and idiopathic lung diseases.

REFERENCES

  • 1 Taskar V S, Coultas D B. Is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis an environmental disease?.  Proc Am Thorac Soc. 2006;  3 293-298
  • 2 Newman L S, Rose C S, Bresnitz E A et al.. A case control etiologic study of sarcoidosis: environmental and occupational risk factors.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2004;  170 1324-1330
  • 3 Garantziotis S, Schwartz D A. Host–environment interactions in pulmonary fibrosis.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;  27 574-580
  • 4 Zissel G, Prasse A, Mueller-Quernheim J. Sarcoidosis-immunopathogenetic concepts.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;  28 3-14
  • 5 Coultas D B, Zumwalt R E, Black W C, Sobonya R E. The epidemiology of interstitial lung diseases.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994;  150 967-972
  • 6 Thomeer M J, Costabe U, Rizzato G, Poletti V, Demedts M. Comparison of registries of interstitial lung diseases in three European countries.  Eur Respir J Suppl. 2001;  32 114s-118s
  • 7 Xaubet A, Ancochea J, Morell F et al.. Report on the incidence of interstitial lung diseases in Spain.  Sarcoidosis Vasc Diffuse Lung Dis. 2004;  21 64-70
  • 8 Tinelli C, De Silvestri A, Richeldi L, Oggionni T. The Italian register for diffuse infiltrative lung disorders (RIPID): a four-year report.  Sarcoidosis Vasc Diffuse Lung Dis. 2005;  22(Suppl) S4-S8
  • 9 Gribbin J, Hubbard R B, Le J I, Smith C J, West J, Tata L J. Incidence and mortality of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis in the UK.  Thorax. 2006;  61 980-985
  • 10 Raghu G, Weycker D, Edelsberg J, Bradford W Z, Oster G. Incidence and prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;  174 810-816
  • 11 Olson A L, Swigris J J, Lezotte D C, Norris J M, Wilson C G, Brown K K. Mortality from pulmonary fibrosis increased in the United States from 1992 to 2003.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;  176 277-284
  • 12 Surgeon General U S. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Washington, DC; Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health 2004
  • 13 Hill A B. The environment and disease: association or causation?.  Proc R Soc Med. 1965;  58 295-300
  • 14 Rothman K J. Modern Epidemiology. Boston/Toronto; Little, Brown 1986
  • 15 Noble P W, Homer R J. Back to the future: historical perspective on the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2005;  33 113-120
  • 16 Flaherty K R, Adin-Cristian A, King Jr T E et al.. Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia: do community and academic physicians agree on diagnosis?.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;  175 1054-1060
  • 17 Gotway M B, Freemer M M, King T E. Challenges in pulmonary fibrosis. 1: Use of high resolution CT scanning of the lung for evaluation of patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.  Thorax. 2007;  62 546-553
  • 18 American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society . International multidisciplinary consensus classification of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002;  165 277-304
  • 19 Kreider M E, Christie J D, Thompson B et al.. Relationship of environmental exposures to the clinical phenotype of sarcoidosis.  Chest. 2005;  128 207-215
  • 20 du Bois R M. Genetic factors in pulmonary fibrotic disorders.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;  27 581-588
  • 21 Iannuzzi M C. Genetics of sarcoidosis.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;  28 15-21
  • 22 Rybicki B A, Iannuzzi M C. Epidemiology of sarcoidosis: recent advances and future prospects.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2007;  28 22-35
  • 23 Scott J, Johnston I, Britton J. What causes cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis? A case-control study of environmental exposure to dust.  BMJ. 1990;  301 1015-1017
  • 24 Hubbard R, Cooper M, Antoniak M et al.. Risk of cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis in metal workers.  Lancet. 2000;  355 466-467
  • 25 Hubbard R, Lewis S, Richards K et al.. Occupational exposure to metal or wood dust and aetiology of cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis.  Lancet. 1996;  347 284-289
  • 26 Baumgartner K B, Samet J M, Stidley C A et al.. Cigarette smoking: a risk factor for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997;  155 242-248
  • 27 Iwai K, Mori T, Yamada N et al.. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: epidemiologic approaches to occupational exposures.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994;  150 670-675
  • 28 Miyake Y, Sasaki S, Yokoyama T et al.. Occupational and environmental factors and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Japan.  Ann Occup Hyg. 2005;  49 259-265
  • 29 Steele M P, Speer M C, Loyd J E et al.. Clinical and pathologic features of familial interstitial pneumonia.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005;  172 1146-1152
  • 30 Baumgartner K B, Samet J M, Coultas D B et al.. Occupational and environmental risk factors for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a multicenter case-control study.  Am J Epidemiol. 2000;  152 307-315
  • 31 Mullen J, Hodgson M J, DeGraff C A et al.. Case-control study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and environmental exposures.  J Occup Environ Med. 1998;  40 363-367
  • 32 Jacobs R L, Andrews C P, Coalson J. Organic antigen-induced interstitial lung disease: diagnosis and management.  Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2002;  88 30-41
  • 33 Churg A, Muller N L, Wright J L. Chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis.  Am J Surg Pathol. 2006;  30 201-208
  • 34 Mapel D W, Coultas D B. The environmental epidemiology of idiopathic interstitial lung disease including sarcoidosis.  Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 1999;  20 521-529
  • 35 Kajdasz D K, Judson M A, Mohr Jr L C, Lackland D T. Geographic variation in sarcoidosis in South Carolina: its relation to socioeconomic status and health care indicators.  Am J Epidemiol. 1999;  150 271-278
  • 36 Cummings M M, Dunner E, Schmidt R H, Barnwell J B. Concepts of epidemiology of sarcoidosis: preliminary report of 1194 cases reviewed with special reference to geographic ecology.  Postgrad Med J. 1956;  19 437-446
  • 37 Cummings M M, Dunner E, William J H. Epidemiologic, clinical observations in sarcoidosis.  Ann Intern Med. 1959;  50 879-890
  • 38 Kajdasz D K, Lackland D T, Mohr L C, Judson M A. A current assessment of rurally linked exposures as potential risk factors for sarcoidosis.  Ann Epidemiol. 2001;  11 111-117
  • 39 Newman L S. Beryllium disease and sarcoidosis: clinical and laboratory links.  Sarcoidosis. 1995;  12 7-19
  • 40 Newman L S. Metals that cause sarcoidosis.  Semin Respir Infect. 1998;  13 212-220
  • 41 Rafnsson V, Ingimarsson O, Hjalmarsson I, Gunnarsdottir H. Association between exposure to crystalline silica and risk of sarcoidosis.  Occup Environ Med. 1998;  55 657-660
  • 42 Izbicki G, Chavko R, Banauch G I et al.. World Trade Center “sarcoid-like” granulomatous pulmonary disease in New York City Fire Department rescue workers.  Chest. 2007;  131 1414-1423
  • 43 Heyll A, Meckenstock G, Aul C et al.. Possible transmission of sarcoidosis via allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.  Bone Marrow Transplant. 1994;  14 161-164
  • 44 Barnard J, Rose C, Newman L et al.. Job and industry classifications associated with sarcoidosis in a case-control etiologic study of sarcoidosis (ACCESS).  J Occup Environ Med. 2005;  47 226-234
  • 45 Gentry J T, Nitowsky H M, Michael Jr M. Studies on the epidemiology of sarcoidosis in the United States: the relationship to soil areas and to urban-rural residence.  J Clin Invest. 1955;  34 1839-1856
  • 46 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Sarcoidosis among US Navy enlisted men 1965–1993.  MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1997;  46 539-543
  • 47 Jajosky P. Sarcoiodosis diagnoses among US military personnel. Trends and ship assignment associations.  Am J Prev Med. 1998;  14 176-183
  • 48 Gorham E D, Garland C F, Garland F C et al.. Trends and occupational associations in incidence of hospitalized pulmonary sarcoidosis and other lung diseases in Navy personnel: a 27 year historical prospective study, 1975 -2001.  Chest. 2004;  126 1431-1438
  • 49 Kern D G, Neil M A, Wrenn D S, Varone J C. Investigation of a unique time-space cluster of sarcoidosis in fire fighters.  Am Rev Respir Dis. 1993;  148 974-980
  • 50 Prezant D J, Dhala A, Goldstein A et al.. The incidence, prevalence, and severity of sarcoidosis in New York City firefighters.  Chest. 1999;  116 1183-1193
  • 51 Calvert G M, Rice F L, Boiano J M, Sheehy J W, Sanderson W T. Occupational silica exposure and risk of various diseases: an analysis using death certificates from 27 states of the United States.  Occup Environ Med. 2003;  60 122-129
  • 52 Kucera G P, Rybicki B A, Kirkey K L et al.. Occupational risk factors for sarcoidosis in African-American siblings.  Chest. 2003;  123 1527-1535
  • 53 Rybicki B A, Amend K L, Maliarik M J, Iannuzzi M C. Photocopier exposure and risk of sarcoidosis in African American sibs.  Sarcoidosis Vasc Diffuse Lung Dis. 2004;  21 49-55
  • 54 Thomas K W, Hunninghake G. Sarcoidosis: The search for a potential pathogen. In: Baughman RP New York; Taylor & Francis 2006: 247-275

David CoultasM.D. 

Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler

11937 US Hwy. 271, Tyler, TX 75708

Email: david.coultas@uthct.edu

    >