Number and activity of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in asthma and their relation to airway responsiveness.

Bronchial responsiveness to inhaled methacholine was measured four to six days before fibreoptic bronchoscopy in 22 asthmatic patients (10 smokers) and 20 control subjects (12 smokers). The asthmatic patients had a baseline FEV1 greater than 60% predicted and a PD20FEV1 (provocative dose of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV1) of 0.006-3.7 mg. The 20 control subjects had normal pulmonary function and a PD20FEV1 above the maximum cumulative dose of methacholine of 6.4 mg. Bronchoalveolar lavage of a middle lobe segment (lingula in four subjects) was performed with three sequential 60 ml aliquots of sterile saline. Cellular metabolic activity was stimulated with latex in aliquots of resuspended cells, and measured by means of luminol enhanced chemiluminescence to assess neutrophil activity and lucigenin enhanced chemiluminescence to assess macrophage activity. Mean absolute total cell counts were similar in the asthmatic and control groups but there were differences in differential cell counts, with a significant increase in eosinophil (p less than 0.05) and lymphocyte (p less than 0.005) counts in asthma. PD20FEV1 was negatively correlated with percentage neutrophil counts (p less than 0.005). Luminol enhanced chemiluminescence/1000 neutrophils was increased about twofold in asthmatic subjects (p less than 0.001), but was not correlated with PD20FEV1 Lucigenin enhanced chemiluminescence/1000 macrophages was increased nearly fourfold in asthmatic patients (p less than 0.001) and showed a negative correlation with PD20FEV1 (p less than 0.01). The macrophage count was increased twofold in current smokers in both groups, but other cell numbers were not altered significantly. Smoking did not affect cellular metabolic activity in either group. This study supports the idea that an inflammatory process is present in the airways of those with asthma, and suggests a relation between bronchial responsiveness and both neutrophil numbers and macrophage activity.