Number and activity of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in XXXX and their relation to airway responsiveness.

@entity748 @entity1 @entity565 @entity6931 @entity2710 @entity12487
Bronchial responsiveness to inhaled @entity2710 was measured four to six days before fibreoptic bronchoscopy in 22 @entity748 @entity1 (10 smokers) and 20 control subjects (12 smokers). The @entity748 @entity1 had a baseline FEV1 greater than 60% predicted and a PD20FEV1 (provocative dose of @entity2710 causing a 20% fall in FEV1) of 0.006-3.7 mg. The 20 control subjects had normal pulmonary function and a PD20FEV1 above the maximum cumulative dose of @entity2710 of 6.4 mg. Bronchoalveolar lavage of a middle lobe segment (lingula in four subjects) was performed with three sequential 60 ml aliquots of sterile saline. Cellular metabolic activity was stimulated with latex in aliquots of resuspended cells, and measured by means of @entity6931 enhanced chemiluminescence to assess neutrophil activity and @entity12487 enhanced chemiluminescence to assess macrophage activity. Mean absolute total cell counts were similar in the @entity748 and control groups but there were differences in differential cell counts, with a significant increase in eosinophil (p less than 0.05) and lymphocyte (p less than 0.005) counts in @entity565 . PD20FEV1 was negatively correlated with percentage neutrophil counts (p less than 0.005). Luminol enhanced chemiluminescence/1000 neutrophils was increased about twofold in @entity748 subjects (p less than 0.001), but was not correlated with PD20FEV1 Lucigenin enhanced chemiluminescence/1000 macrophages was increased nearly fourfold in @entity748 @entity1 (p less than 0.001) and showed a negative correlation with PD20FEV1 (p less than 0.01). The macrophage count was increased twofold in current smokers in both groups, but other cell numbers were not altered significantly. Smoking did not affect cellular metabolic activity in either group. This study supports the idea that an inflammatory process is present in the airways of those with @entity565 , and suggests a relation between bronchial responsiveness and both neutrophil numbers and macrophage activity.
