Cellular analysis in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids in infiltrative and fibrotic stages of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
We performed cellular analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) from 20 patients in different stages of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and compared the results with those from 16 controls and 10 sarcoidosis patients. Patients with IPF were divided into infiltrative and fibrotic groups as diagnosed by transbronchial lung biopsy and chest x-rays. Total cell numbers counted from BALF in IPF patients were not different from those from controls and were lower than in sarcoidosis patients (p less than 0.01). Lymphocytes in BALF were significantly higher in the infiltrative type IPF than in the fibrotic type (p less than 0.05), but there was no significant difference in fibrotic type IPF and control subjects. Numbers of neutrophils and eosinophils counts were not significantly different between infiltrative type and fibrotic type. The neutrophil count in fibrotic type IPF was higher than in control subjects (p less than 0.01) but not in infiltrative type IPF. 67Ga scintiscanning uptake correlated with the lymphocyte population (r = 0.65, p less than 0.01) but with neutrophils. These findings suggest that lymphocytes play a major role in the pathogenesis of the infiltrative type of IPF and that neutrophils are related to the development of fibrotic changes in IPF.
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008875:Middle Aged; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes