Increased numbers of eosinophils have been found in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid obtained from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This suggests the presence of one or more cytokines in the lung tissue of patients with IPF, which are involved in the induction of migration of eosinophils towards the pulmonary compartment. To evaluate this hypothesis, we studied migratory res...

Pneumonia is still a major problem in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, and despite extensive investigation the aetiology remains unknown in many cases. The prevalence of the eight human herpesviruses was determined by polymerase chain reaction in 91 samples of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from 72 HIV-infected patients with 91 episodes of suspected pneumonia. The prese...

detection of trace metals in the cell-free BAL fluid, showing high concentrations of tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta) and cobalt (Co) in hard metal lung disease [163]. The quantification of asbestos bodies is best done by filtration of 5-15 ml fresh BAL fluid, cells included, onto millipore filters, and counting the number of asbestos bodies [179]. Uncoated asbestos fibres can only be counted by ele...

BACKGROUND The persistent airway neutrophilia observed in chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLD) may reflect inappropriate suppression of neutrophil apoptosis. METHODS 134 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were obtained from 32 infants requiring mechanical ventilation for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS): 13 infants (median gestation 26 weeks, range 23 to 28) subsequently developed C...

BACKGROUND Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous lung disease of unknown origin. The accumulation of activated T cells at sites of inflammation represents an early stage in granuloma formation. Since mechanisms governing the normal resolution of inflammatory processes are poorly understood, this study aimed to investigate the apoptotic phenotype of peripheral blood and lung T lymphocytes from ...

RATIONALE Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is an important cause of mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. However, IA appears to be gaining a foothold in the intensive care unit (ICU) in patients without classical risk factors. A recent study described 89 cases of IA in patients in a medical ICU without leukemia or cancer. The diagnosis of IA remains difficult and is often established...

Lung uptake of intravenously injected Tc-99m-HMPAO is observed in smokers and in lung toxicity due to various agents. We investigated the Tc-99m-HMPAO uptake of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells in the lungs after incubation in in vitro conditions (6 patients), intravenous injection (IV) (7 patients) and inhalation (INH) (6 patients) of Tc-99m-HMPAO in order to show whether BAL cells are also ...

INTRODUCTION  Previous studies have suggested that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) inhibits lung fibrosis as an antagonist of transforming growth factor β (TGF‑β). OBJECTIVES  We assessed HGF expression levels in the lower airways of patients with selected interstitial lung diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS  HGF levels were examined by an enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay in bronchoalveolar lav...

Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is widely used for evaluation of patients with suspected invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). However, the diagnostic yield of BAL for detection of IPA by culture and direct examination is limited. Earlier diagnosis may be facilitated by assays that can detect Aspergillus galactomannan antigen or DNA in BAL fluid. We therefore characterized and compared the diagn...

Several studies have suggested that patients with bronchial asthma are more susceptible to the potential effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) than healthy subjects, with respect to airway responsiveness and lung function. We investigated whether these differences are paralleled by differences in the cellular and biochemical response within the airway lumen. Twelve subjects with mild extrinsic asth...