R. Pabst et Rm. Binns, LYMPHOCYTES MIGRATE FROM THE BRONCHOALVEOLAR SPACE TO REGIONAL BRONCHIAL LYMPH-NODES, American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 151(2), 1995, pp. 495-499
Citations number
33
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care","Respiratory System
The fate of lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar tract was studied in no
rmal young pigs. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were labeled with (51)ch
romium or with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and instilled into a
single segmental bronchus. in the first series of experiments, the rad
ioactivity was determined in several different parts of the lungs, ind
ividual bronchial lymph nodes and a series of other lymphoid and nonly
mphoid organs. About two-thirds of the radioactivity was still in the
lung at 1 d. The draining lymph node also contained high amounts of ra
dioactivity. To exclude that this was caused by labeled cell debris, a
n immunohistologic technique was used to localize the FITC-labeled cel
ls. There were clearly labeled lymphocytes in the sinusoids of the dra
ining nodes. These lymphocytes were characterized by additional surfac
e staining, B, T, T-H, and T-S lymphocytes were seen much less often t
han in the inoculum while the null and gamma delta T cells showed a pr
eference. The lymphocytes reached the bronchial lymph nodes via lympha
tics. Lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar space are not effete cells to
be destroyed but return to the immune system. These data provide new
interest in the immunologic role of lymphocytes in the bronchoalveolar
tract and their kinetics.