Breast implant lobbyists, who are working for compensation for women who believe they have been made sick by breast implants, said the report strengthens their position. Michael Lieberman and colleagues at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston injected silicone into mice, and found those given the highest doses all died in three to five days. These mice developed inflammatory lesions of the lung and liver as well as liver cell necrosis (death),” they wrote in their report in Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

They concentrated on cyclosiloxanes, which are found in breast implants. Leakage Possible Our findings are significant because in vitro (laboratory dish) experiments have demonstrated that cyclosiloxanes can migrate out of breast implants, and in mouse experiments cyclosiloxanes have been shown to be widely distributed in many organs after a single injection and to persist for at least a year, Liebermans team wrote.

These findings indicate that low-dose exposure to these silicones over time may lead to chronic inflammation, chronic lung and liver disease and abnormal tissue the Command Trust Network, Inc., a group representing women with implants, said in a statement. Because these silicones leak from even intact implants, there is a high potential of such exposure in implanted women.

In December, a panel of experts appointed by a federal judge to decide whether silicone breast implants can make people sick said it had found no evidence they could. It said tests that have shown any toxic effect on the immune system were few in number and questionable in significance.

Women with implants have complained of illnesses that affect the connective tissue that holds the body together, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

Thousands of silicone breast implant cases are pending against manufacturers Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Baxter Healthcare and 3M.

In July Dow Corning Corp. reached a $3.2 billion agreement to settle cases by more than 400,000 women. The company has always maintained that the implants do not cause health problems, but settled the cases anyway.

Another panel of experts, this one appointed by the Institute of Medicine at the request of the National Institutes of Health, started deliberations last year on whether silicone breast implants cause disease.

Because these silicones leak from even intact implants, there is a high potential of such exposure in implanted women.

Command Trust Network