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File:IPLab3ForeignBodyGranuloma5.jpg|This is a fully-polarized view of lung showing numerous birefringent particles.
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== Study Questions ==
* <spoiler text="Compare and contrast the tissue reactions to carbon (anthracosis), talc, and silica. What factors are important in the pathogenesis of tissue injury due to these foreign materials?">Carbon is relatively inert and leads to little if any tissue damage.
Talc results in foreign body granulomas but these lesions are mild.
Silica can lead to severe fibrosis of tissues, especially the lung.
Factors important in tissue injury include:
* size of particles (for airborne particles the small size lets them get deep into the lung),
* solubility of material,
* cytotoxicity of material (e.g. silica reacts with free radicals and other chemical groups to cause membrane damage), and finally
* whether the materials can be phagocytosed and removed from the body or whether they damage leukocytes and cause the release of inflammatory mediators.</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What are the birefringent particles seen in the nodules adjacent to the vessels and how did they get there?">The material is talc, which is often used to "cut" street drugs. Intravenous injection of talc leads to some talc being deposited in tissues and initiating an inflammatory response.</spoiler>
{{IPLab 3}}
[[Category:IPLab:Lab 3]]