July 27‚ 2001 — Recent beryllium research topics include medical techniques for evaluating health problems in beryllium workers and the role of genetic susceptibility in chronic beryllium disease

The Colorado researchers developed T—cell lines from the lungs of four patients with chronic beryllium disease. These lines generally responded vigorously to the beryllium compound‚ beryllium sulfate‚ but not to other metallic compounds. The reactions of various antigen—presenting cells that had different HLA DP alleles were tested. The results indicated that only cells with certain types of HLA DP alleles reacted to beryllium compounds‚ thus providing more information about heightened predisposition to chronic beryllium disease.

A group at the Imperial College of Medicine in the United Kingdom also worked with T—cell lines derived from patients with chronic beryllium disease (J Immunol 2001 Mar 1;166(5):3549—55). They found a strong correlation between chronic beryllium disease and HLA DP alleles that contained glutamic acid positioned in a certain way. Glutamic acid is one of 20 amino acids‚ the building blocks that make up protein in the body. The sequence of amino acids in a protein is determined by genetics.

Of the 235 employees screened from 1994 to 1997‚ 15 had abnormal BeLPT results that indicated beryllium sensitization. Nine of these employees developed chronic beryllium disease. Four of the 15 cases were diagnosed within three months of their first beryllium exposure. From 1997 to 1999‚ 187 of the 235 employees participated in biennial screening; seven more had developed beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease.

The results showed that beryllium sensitization can occur as early as within 50 days of first exposure. The researchers concluded the blood BeLPT should be used repeatedly and serially in beryllium disease surveillance to capture new or missed cases of sensitization and disease.