AIRWAY INFLAMMATION IN SMOKERS WITH NONOBSTRUCTIVE AND OBSTRUCTIVE CHRONIC-BRONCHITIS

To assess the manifestation and location of airway inflammation in smo kers with chronic bronchitis (CB) or chronic obstructive pulmonary dis ease (COPD), we lavaged the airways of 12 smokers with CB and 11 smoke rs with COPD and coexisting CB (OCB). For comparison, the airways of 5 asymptomatic smokers (AS) and 10 healthy nonsmokers (HNS) were lavage d. In all cases, the first lavage aliquot, labeled ''bronchial lavage' ' (BL), was processed separately from the four subsequent aliquots, wh ich were combined and labeled ''bronchoalveolar ravage'' (BAL). The co mposition of BL and BAL fluids indicated an ongoing inflammatory proce ss in the airways of all three groups of smokers. CB patients with obs truction had significantly lower concentrations of inflammatory cells in the BL and BAL fluids compared with subjects with nonobstructed CB. Furthermore, airway obstruction, indicated by a reduced FEV(1), was s ignificantly correlated with the concentrations of glutathione (p < 0. 001), myeloperoxidase (MPG; p < 0.01), and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP; p < 0.01) in BAL fluids. Taken together, these findings suggest that the manifestations of inflammation present in the airways of smo kers with CB are different in those who have developed obstruction com pared with those who have not.