Enumeration of pulmonary immunoglobulin secreting cells in human bronchoalveolar lavage.

endotoxin often demonstrate increased numbers of various cell types. Would this partly explain your results? Dr. Rylandet.: That's probably what we see: the exposure levels in workers are above those required to cause mill fever. A similar thing happens to sewage workers. Dr. Kreutzer: Have you used a variety of endotoxin preparations? Might there be chemotactic factors in your preparation? Dr. Rylander: We have not done this. Dr. Ward: Your lavage neutrophils seem very low in number. What's the reproducibility of your counts? Dr. Ryhnder: The figures given need to be multiplied by 104 to give the true value. The reproducibility is good as long as we do not work with lungs that are infected. Question: Since housedust is made up of a large amount of cotton, do you have any feelings about endotoxin playing a role in housedust allergy? Dr. Ryhncler: Yes, I do. An article has been published which suggests that housedust contains significant amounts of endotoxin. Dr. Brooks: Since prevalence of byssinosis varies from plant to plant and also with the quality of the cotton, have you looked at the dserent kinds of cotton and their endotoxin content? Dr. Rylandet.: Yes, and the variation in content of bacteria parallels the variation in byssinosis. Dr. Stechschulte: Is IgA monomeric or dimeric in serum or secretions? Dr. Rylonder: Bronchial secretions of cotton workers are 50 percent secretory of IgA. We don't know if it is monomeric or dirneric. Dr. Kart: I'd like to ask Dr. Rylander about his feelings regarding the possible role of complement in the response to inhaled endoxotin? Dr. Rylander: Maybe complement is not the important factor in the production of inflammation in the airways. Dr. Ward: I think the story is very complex and depends upon the type of endotoxin preparation.