Does pulmonary airway inflammation relate to intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens? A pilot study.
BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to assess the value of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens.


METHODS
BALs from 44 unselected patients undergoing routine diagnostic bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage were studied. Cell-free supernatants of the BAL specimens were frozen at -70 degrees C until tested. BAL ICAM-1 concentration was measured using enzyme immunoassay and degree of patient illness assessed by modified APACHE II scores.


RESULTS
ICAM-1 in BAL fluid was positively correlated to the patient illness score (modified APACHE II) at a p value of 0.026. No such association was found between ICAM-1 levels and cigarette use or infection with pneumocystis carinii, although a few individuals in the smoker's group with pulmonary infection had 10-fold elevations of BAL ICAM-1.


CONCLUSIONS
BAL ICAM-1 may relate to the pulmonary pathogenic process as supported by the association between modified APACHE II scores and ICAM-1 values. Specific pulmonary-related diagnosis and BAL ICAM-1 did not produce significant relationships in this study.
Rumalla
A
A
Herndon
B
B
Pyszczynski
D
D
Suvarna
P
P
D018806:APACHE; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011020:Pneumonia, Pneumocystis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1