RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 What role for asbestos in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis? Findings from the IPF job exposures case–control study
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 97
OP 103
DO 10.1136/oemed-2022-108404
VO 80
IS 2
A1 Carl J Reynolds
A1 Rupa Sisodia
A1 Chris Barber
A1 Miriam Moffatt
A1 Cosetta Minelli
A1 Sara De Matteis
A1 John W Cherrie
A1 Anthony Newman Taylor
A1 Paul Cullinan
YR 2023
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/80/2/97.abstract
AB Background Asbestos has been hypothesised as the cause of the recent global increase in the incidence of ‘idiopathic’ pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Establishing this has important diagnostic and therapeutic implications. The association between occupational asbestos exposure and IPF, and interaction with a common (minor allele frequency of 9% in European populations) genetic variant associated with IPF, MUC5B rs35705950, is unknown.Methods Multicentre, incident case–control study. Cases (n=494) were men diagnosed with IPF at 21 UK hospitals. Controls (n=466) were age-matched men who attended a hospital clinic in the same period. Asbestos exposure was assessed at interview using a validated job exposure matrix and a source-receptor model. The primary outcome was the association between asbestos exposure and IPF, estimated using logistic regression adjusted for age, smoking and centre. Interaction with MUC5B rs35705950 was investigated using a genetic dominant model.Results 327 (66%) cases and 293 (63%) controls ever had a high or medium asbestos exposure risk job; 8% of both cases and controls had cumulative exposure estimates ≥25 fibre ml⁻¹ years. Occupational asbestos exposure was not associated with IPF, adjusted OR 1.1 (95% CI 0.8 to 1.4; p=0.6) and there was no gene–environment interaction (p=0.3). Ever smoking was associated with IPF, OR 1.4 (95% CI 1 to 1.9; p=0.04) and interacted with occupational asbestos exposure, OR 1.9 (95% CI 1 to 3.6; p=0.04). In a further non-specified analysis, when stratifying for genotype there was significant interaction between smoking and work in an exposed job (p<0.01) for carriers of the minor allele of MUC5B rs35705950.Conclusion Occupational asbestos exposure alone, or through interaction with MUC5B rs35705950 genotype, was not associated with IPF. Exposure to asbestos and smoking interact to increase IPF risk in carriers of a common genetic variant, the minor allele of MUC5B rs35705950.Trial registration number NCT03211507.Data are available upon reasonable request. Deidentified participant data are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author.