Comparison of cell profiles on bronchial and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids between normal subjects and patient with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Abstract

The cell profiles of bronchial and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BLF and BALF) of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were compared with those of normal volunteers (NV) and age-matched control patients (CP), to characterize the cell profiles of the bronchoalveolar region in normals and patients with IPF. In BALF of nonsmokers from both control groups (NV and CP), alveolar macrophages (AM) were predominant and the percentage of neutrophil leukocytes and that of eosinophil leukocytes below 1% of the total cells. The percentage of neutrophils and that of bronchial epithelial cells were higher in BLF than in BALF of both control groups. Of the immune and inflammatory cells in BLF, the mean percentage of neutrophils was 12% in NV group and 42% in CP group. The percentage of neutrophils and that of eosinophils in BALF were higher in IPF group than in CP group, but the percentage of neutrophils in BLF of IPF group was comparable to that of CP group. In the IPF group, the percentage of neutrophils in BALF was lower than that in BLF. These results indicated that even in healthy subjects, a considerable number of neutrophils are present in the bronchial region and that the cell profile of the lavage fluid of the bronchoalveolar tree changes depending on the method of lavage. Presumably the higher percentage of neutrophils in BALF of patients with IPF is partly due to derangements of the alveolar structure, because the amount of saline infused into this region is limited bronchial lavage ; bronchoalveolar lavage ; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ; alveolar macrophages ; polymorphonuclear leukocytesThe pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is unknown. Previous investigators (Reynolds et al. 1977;Weinberger et al. 1978;Haslam et al. 1980) have reported that an increase of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, especially neutrophils, in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is characteristic of patients with IPF. Neutrophils have also been considered to be closely related to

Sequential Bronchoalveolar Lavages Reflect Distinct Pulmonary Compartments: Clinical and Research Implications in Lung Transplantation

“…Of note, the protein analyses were performed on a small and randomly selected subset of samples and are not representative of any specific post lung-transplant conditions. Our observations regarding the cellular and soluble components of sequential BALs are consistent with several studies carried out in non-transplant populations in the 1980's [9,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. A small volume lavage (less than 20 ml) in the mainstem bronchus or a segmental bronchus recovered more epithelial cells and neutrophils, while a larger lavage volume of 20-100 ml in a segmental bronchus recovered more alveolar macrophages [31], which is in line with our data.…”

Bronchial brush biopsies for studies of epithelial inflammation in stable asthma and nonobstructive chronic bronchitis

“…In the present study, we used fibreoptic bronchoscopy and the BBB method to study epithelial inflammatory cells in the two inflammatory airway diseases, bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis. The degree of activation of bronchial inflammatory cells was evaluated indirectly by measurement of cell activation markers in small volume bronchial lavage fluid, a method known to give samples representative of the large airways [29][30][31]. Bronchial lavage can be performed with the bronchoscope in a wedged [29,30] or unwedged position [31], and we chose the latter to further minimize possible contamination from the alveolar space.…”

Cell Profile and Elastase Activity in Diffuse Panbronchiolitis Investigated by Bronchoalveolar and Bronchial Lavage.

“…Method of lavage of the respiratory tract Informed consent was obtained from all volunteers and patients after they had been given a full explanation of the procedures. Bronchoalveolar lavage and bronchial lavage were carried out using a flexible bronchofiberscope (Olympus BF, 1 T, Olympus Corporation) as reported previously (7,8). For bronchoalveolar lavage, subseg mental or segmental lavage with 50ml of saline was repeated 3 times in the right middle lobe or lingula, and Table 1.…”

“…Patient Profile of Patients with Diffuse Panbronchiolitis infused saline was recovered manually with a syringe (7). For bronchial lavage, the tip of the bronchofiberscope was inserted into a lower lobe bronchus without wedging, and 25ml of saline was infused into the bronchus three times and recovered with an aspirator into a mucus trap at a negative pressure of 50mmHg (8). In all of the normal volunteers and 10 of the patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis, bronchoalveolar lavage was done on the right side and bronchial lavage on the left side at the same time.…”

“…The combined bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and bronchial lavage fluid from each subject were filtered through single layer of gauze and centrifuged at 250x g for 10 minutes at 4°C to precipitate cells. The precipitated cells were suspended in 2-5 ml of RPMI-1640 medium, and total cell and differential cell analyses were per formed as described previously (7,8). The 250x g super natants were stored at -80°C and used for the following biochemical analysis.…”