Respiratory disease in cork workers (`suberosis')

Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function of workers exposed to cork dust, toluene diisocyanate and conidia.

“…Those exposed to conidia ran a three times greater risk of symptoms of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This evidence corroborates the work of Portuguese authors (1)(2)(3) who found that the inhalation of P frequentans reproduced symptoms of suberosis and that exposure to conidia implies a risk of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (41,42). Those workers with symptoms of hypersensitivity pneumonitis and fever , the latter persistent with exposure to conidia, also had precipitins to P frequentans and restrictive ventilatory impairment, which ruled out the organic dust toxic syndrome (43).…”

“…The etiology was attributed to cork dust and Penicillium frequentans (3,4), although inhalatory provocation tests were only positive to P frequentans. Nevertheless, the clinical presentation of suberosis was polymorphous, since patients complained of symptoms typical of either hypersensitivity pneumonitis or asthma and even a form of bronchitis (2).…”

“…Suberosis, a respiratory disease of cork workers, was first described by Portuguese authors (1) as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and the pathology included sarcoid-type granulomas with cork inclusions in the pulmonary interstitium and bronchial wall (2). The etiology was attributed to cork dust and Penicillium frequentans (3,4), although inhalatory provocation tests were only positive to P frequentans.…”

Assessment of exposure to the Penicillium glabrum complex in cork industry using complementing methods / Ocjena izloženosti kompleksu Penicillium glabrum u proizvodnji pluta s pomoću komplementarnih metoda

“…The presence of the P. glabrum complex in this industry involves the risk of respiratory diseases such as suberosis, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis that is one of the most prevalent diseases among cork workers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”

Cork workers? occupational asthma: lack of association with allergic sensitisation to fungi of the work environment

“…Cork workers are at risk of developing an occupational lung disease (suberosis) due to repeated exposure to mouldy cork dust (Pimentel and Á vila 1973). Usually, they present with an interstitial lung disorder (hypersensitivity pneumonitis) with a CD8+ lymphocytic alveolitis and IgG antibodies specific for Penicillium glabrum (formerly known as Penicillium frequentans), one of the fungi most frequently isolated from cork samples (Pimentel and Á vila 1973;Delgado et al 1992).…”