POL Scientific / JBM / Volume 11 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.14440/jbm.2024.0053
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REVIEW

End tuberculosis strategy also requires initiation and integration of a national silicosis control program with the ongoing tuberculosis elimination activities: A review of the silicotuberculosis situation in India

Bidisa Sarkar1 Kamalesh Sarkar2*
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1 Maldah Unit, National Public Health Support Network, World Health Organization, West Bengal, 732101, India
2 Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380016, India
JBM 2024 , 11(4), e99010035; https://doi.org/10.14440/jbm.2024.0053
Submitted: 9 August 2024 | Revised: 4 September 2024 | Accepted: 23 September 2024 | Published: 24 October 2024
© 2024 by the Journal of Biological Methods published by POL Scientific. Licensee POL Scientific, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Background: Earlier studies conducted by Indian researchers have demonstrated that the elimination of tuberculosis (TB) requires proactive control of silicosis, given India’s significant burden of silicosis and its common comorbidity, pulmonary TB, also known as silicotuberculosis. The TB Control Indian Health Authority saw human immunodeficiency virus infection, diabetes, and malnutrition, among others, as important risk factors for case findings, but overlooked the significance of silicosis. Silicotuberculosis control is often confronted with challenges of detecting microorganisms, uncertain treatment outcomes, a higher likelihood of mono-drug and multi-drug resistance, and increased mortality due to treatment failure. In addition, silicosis has a long latent period, typically 15 years or more, from the onset of silica dust exposure to the appearance of opacities on radiological examination, which is the conventional method of diagnosis of the condition. Objective and recommendation: Facing the aforementioned situation, scientists of the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Occupational Health have identified a useful biomarker, Club cell secretory protein 16 (CC-16) (a lung protein), that might serve as a surrogate marker for early detection of silicosis among silica dust-exposed workers. An added benefit of CC-16 is its ability to detect sub-radiological silicosis, which is recognized as a risk factor for TB and multi-drug-resistant TB. At present, two researchers have developed point-of-care devices for detecting silica-dust-induced lung damage using serum CC-16, to support its further application. Conclusion: The present review highlights possible mechanisms for the early detection of silicosis and silicotuberculosis by assessing several relevant research publications, and the findings suggest that a national silicosis control program, to be integrated with existing TB elimination activities for sustainable and improved outcomes, should be initiated.

Keywords
Elimination of tuberculosis
Silicosis
Sub-radiological silicosis
Silicotuberculosis
Club cell secretory protein 16
Surrogate marker
Early detection
Funding
None.
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Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest in any part of this work.
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Journal of Biological Methods, Electronic ISSN: 2326-9901 Print ISSN: TBA, Published by POL Scientific