The occurrence of interstitial lung disease similar to hard metal lung
disease in diamond polishers who had been exposed to cobalt (in the a
bsence of tungsten carbide) through the use of polishing disks contain
ing microdiamonds sintered with cobalt, led us to experimentally test
the hypothesis that cobalt has pro-oxidant activity in lung tissue. Se
veral experiments were carried out in which we measured indices of oxi
dant stress, mainly changes in the oxidation state of glutathione and
in the activity of the pentose phosphate pathway, upon exposure of ham
ster pulmonary tissue to CoCl2 in vivo by intratracheal instillation,
or in vitro by incubating lung slices. These experiments indicated tha
t cobalt ions are capable of causing thiol oxidation in lung tissue as
an early manifestation of oxidant stress, but more studies are needed
to establish the relevance of this mechanism in the causation of lung
disease in subjects exposed to cobalt-containing dusts.