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Purpose. The prevalence and severity of respiratory disorders are very high among coal miners as continuous exposure of workers in such an environment leads to accumulation of dust in the lungs. This study was designed to assess the prevalence of lung function impairment and to determine whether there is any correlation between dust exposure duration and lung function indices. Materials. Two hundred and thirty underground coal dust-exposed workers and 130 age-matched non-exposed workers were recruited from an underground mine in West Bengal, India. A spirometry test was performed for lung function and also basic information on personnel’s dust exposure, smoking and respiratory morbidity was collected. Student’s ttest, Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r), uncorrected Pearson’s χ2test and Fischer’s exact test were performed for statistical analysis. Results. Lung function indices were significantly (p < 0.050) impaired between the exposed (43.91%) and non-exposed (23.85%) groups. In addition, highly significant decrements in the pulmonary volumes of exposed subjects were also noted. Furthermore, a high negative correlation was observed between spirometric results and exposure time in the exposed group compared with the non-exposed group. Conclusion. This study suggested a positive relationship between exposure time and lung function deterioration.

Objective: To understand the capability of carotenoids phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene supplementation individually and in combination to counter the effect of nicotine-induced oxidative stress-mediated pancreatic islet dysfunctioning. Method: Thirty male Wistar albino rats were divided into six groups: Group A, control; Group B, treated with intraperitoneal injection of nicotine (3 mg/kg bw); Group C, received nicotine intraperitoneally (3 mg/kg bw) and supplemented with phytoene orally (0.19 mg/kg bw); Group D, treated with nicotine intraperitoneally (3 mg/kg bw) and supplemented with phytofluene orally (0.1 mg/kg bw); Group E, treated with nicotine intraperitoneally (3 mg/kg bw) and supplemented with lycopene orally (10 mg/kg bw); and Group F, treated with nicotine intraperitoneally (3 mg/kg bw) and supplemented with a combined dose of phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene (0.19 mg/kg + 0.1 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg bw). Then sacrificed on 21st day, pancreatic islet cells were isolated and ROS generation was estimated. Likewise, histology and biochemical assays of oxidative and antioxidative stress parameters, and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels were measured by ELISA. Result: Phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene individually and in combination decreased the nicotine-induced changes in fasting blood glucose, oral glucose tolerance test, and glycated hemoglobin levels. They also provided protection against the oxidative injury, increase in ROS generation and increase in the pro-inflammatory cytokines, both of which are known to be a major step in nicotine-induced islet injury and impairment of glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, it is very much interesting to note that combined supplementation showed higher degree of protection than the individual supplementation. Conclusion: This study has presented experimental evidences that phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene supplementation individually provides protection against the nicotine-mediated islet impairment. The degree of protection was further enhanced upon the combined supplementation. Thus, these results suggest that the combined supplementation of phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene may evolve as a probable approach to blunt the effect of nicotine-induced impairment of pancreatic islets.