PMID: 9543269May 16, 1998Paper

Immunological findings in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in chronic bronchitis patients with recurrent infectious exacerbations

The European Respiratory Journal
I QvarfordtB A Andersson

Abstract

Bronchial infections are common in smokers and seem to be related to the presence of chronic bronchitis (CB). Why only some smokers develop repeated bronchial infections is not known. The aim of this study was to screen for immunological changes associated with disease in patients with CB and recurrent infectious exacerbations compared to asymptomatic smokers. Sixteen smokers with stable CB and recurrent infectious exacerbations, and 18 asymptomatic smokers, all without any immunomodulating treatment, underwent bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Smoking history and current smoking status were comparable. Serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgM, IgG and IgG subclasses were measured. Blood and BAL lymphocyte phenotypes and proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to various stimulators were analysed. Unstimulated and tetanus toxoid-stimulated production of cytokines in PBMC cultures was measured. Natural killer (NK-) cell activity was analysed. A significantly (p<0.05) lower level of IgG3 was found in the CB group, and a significantly (p<0.01) higher proliferative response of PBMCs was found in the CB group after stimulation with diphtheria toxoid. Detectable levels of interleukin (IL)-6...Continue Reading

Citations

May 15, 2002·International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents·Alistair Leanord, Craig Williams
Aug 14, 2020·Journal of Computational Biology : a Journal of Computational Molecular Cell Biology·Matthew HayesAngela Nguyen

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