ISSN:
1365-2222
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Background In patients with quiescent asthma, macrophages are the most prevalent cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Through activation via their FcεRII receptors or by acting as antigen-presenting cells, macrophages could, in theory, promote the late airway response to allergen.〈section xml:id="abs1-1"〉〈title type="main"〉ObjectiveIn order to investigate the importance of macrophages and other airway luminal cells in inducing the late airway response, a novel washout experiment was designed.Methods Five patients with ragweed-allergic asthma underwent bronchoscopy and segmental bronchial challenge with either normal saline or short ragweed extract in two segments of one lung. In a third segment of the opposite lung, 12 successive BALs (25 mL each) were performed, followed by challenge with an identical dose of short ragweed (washed-challenged segment). After 24 h, all three challenged segments underwent BAL.Results Initially, in the washed-challenged segment, over 80% (mean 80.4%, range 68–88%) of the recoverable airway dwelling cells were removed. Unexpectedly, 24 h later these same washed-challenged segments contained more eosinophils in the BAL than the challenged segments from the opposite lung (P = 0.033).Conclusions Removing the majority of airway luminal cells followed by allergen bronchoprovocation increased the number of eosinophils recovered 24 h after challenge. Our results suggest that in quiescent allergic asthma, the airway luminal cells are protective and attenuate the late eosinophilic response to allergen challenge.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2222.2002.01228.x
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