Increased Endothelin-1 Levels of BAL Fluid in Patients with Behçet's Disease

OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND Pulmonary aneurysms and thrombosis constitute a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Behçet's disease (BD). Various factors have been studied to explore the pathogenesis of vascular involvement in BD. As endothelin (ET) is known for its potent vasoconstrictor and proinflammatory properties, we supposed that it is involved during the inflammatory process of BD pulmonary vasculitis. METHODS To investigate the role of ET in BD, ET-1 concentrations were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of 18 nonsmoking BD patients with pulmonary manifestations and 12 control subjects. Immunoreactivity of ET-1 was also evaluated in alveolar macrophages (AMs) cytoplasm. RESULTS ET-1 levels in BD-BALF were significantly higher than those of controls. ET-1 levels were correlated with the number of alveolar macrophages, but not with BAL-CD4/CD8 ratio. ET-1-immunoreactivity was found mainly in AM of BD-BAL. CONCLUSIONS Increased ET-1 production from AM is associated with pulmonary BD manifestations.